U.S. wants Russia stuck in Ukraine, it won't happen - SVR chief

MOSCOW. March 3 (Interfax) - The United States is betting on the Ukrainian conflict to linger for as long as possible so it can get its hands on other parts of the planet, the director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergei Naryshkin, said on Thursday.

"Washington is very hopeful that we will be stuck in this operation and perish, while they can quietly proceed to purging the Middle East, Eurasia and the Asia Pacific Region. This will not happen: 'the ancient past is gone; everything is new now.' As for the future of Ukraine, it is certainly up to Ukrainians. But it will be an altogether different Ukraine and a different story," Naryshkin said in a statement published on the SVR website.