Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the United Sates on Tuesday of trying to "subdue" Russia as relations between the eastern European country and the West continue to deteriorate over the crisis in Ukraine.
"They (United States) do not want to humiliate us, they want to subdue us, solve their problems at our expense," Putin said at a meeting with his main support group, the People's Front, according to Reuters.
"No one in history ever managed to achieve this with Russia, and no one ever will," he said.
Putin's comments come a day after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the West's sanctions would remain in place against Russia, which has been accused of trying to exert control over Ukraine in a bid to return the glory of the Soviet Union and challenge the EU's influence.
Also on Monday, Russia's foreign ministry said it expelled "several Polish diplomats" for "activities incompatible with their status," which is code speak for spying, The Guardian reported. Polish authorities said Russia's move was retaliation for the October arrest of a military official and a Russian-Polish lawyer for allegedly spying for Russia.
At the core of the Ukrainian crisis, which has been in a fragile ceasefire since early September, is Russia's continual denouncement of accusations it is supplying weapons to pro-Russians separatists fighting the Ukrainian government, which the capital Kiev, the U.S. and NATO are convinced is true.
On Monday the consultant group Armament Research Services released a report saying it was "very likely" the weapons used by the eastern rebels are from Russia, The Guardian reported.
That same day Putin skirted questions of whether or not Russia is supplying the rebels, who staged an uprising after Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in March.
"Nowadays people who wage a fight and consider it righteous will always get weapons," the Russian president said during an interview with the German channel ARD, according to The Guardian. He accused the West of backing the Ukrainian government's use of ballistic missiles.
"You want the Ukrainian central authorities to annihilate everyone there in eastern Ukraine," Putin said. "Is that what you want? We certainly don't. And we won't let it happen."
