"It's hard to say what the future will be like. Now all events are happening so fast, we are limited in our ability to make forecasts, whether it is about the economy or politics [...]. Western countries have done many bad things and made many mistakes, and thereby forced Russia to start its special operation," Peskov said in an interview with the ATV channel from Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"Western countries deceived us after the collapse of the USSR, they also organized six waves of NATO expansion," he said.
Peskov said this was not only the expansion of NATO, but also the expansion of NATO's military infrastructure toward the Russian borders.
"This system of mistakes led to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin deciding to launch the operation. Russia is too big a state to be treated like that and Russia is too strong a country to give up," he said.
Russia has been conducting a special military operation in Ukraine since February 24, 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the operation aims to "protect people subjected to genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." According to the president, the ultimate goal of the operation is to liberate Donbass and create conditions that guarantee Russia's security.