Putin Claims US Helped Russian Separatists

Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken a fresh swipe at the United States, claiming it helped separatists in the volatile North Caucasus region.

In the 2000s, government forces fought Islamic insurgents in Chechnya and neighbouring regions including Ingushetia and Dagestan following a disastrous Chechen war a decade earlier.

Mr Putin backed up his claims by saying his security services intercepted calls between the separatists and US intelligence officers.

"They were actually helping them, even with transportation," the leader said but did not reveal when the calls were made.

Mr Putin said he raised the issue with then-US President George Bush, who promised Putin to "kick the ass" of the intelligence officers in question.

But in the end, Mr Putin said the Russian intelligence agency FSB received a letter from their "American counterparts".

The Russian leader claimed the US officers asserted their right to "support all opposition forces in Russia," including the Islamist separatists in the Caucasus.

He also expressed his fears the West wished Russia harm as he recalled how some world leaders told him they would not mind Russia's possible disintegration.

Referring to the time around the second Chechnya conflict, he said: "My counterparts, a lot of presidents and prime minister told me later on that they had decided for themselves by then that Russia would cease to exist in its current form.

"The only question was when it happens and what consequences would be."

He made the claims in a new TV documentary to be aired on the state-owned Rossiya-1 TV channel and dedicated to his 15 years in office.

It focused on Mr Putin's achievements as well as challenges to his rule - which the producers and the president blame on Western interference.

He also defended the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, saying it righted a historical injustice.

Mr Putin said he had no regrets over the March 2014 split which led to the worst crisis between the West and Russia since the end of the Cold War.

"It's not because Crimea has a strategic importance in the Black Sea region. It's because this has elements of historical justice. I believe we did the right thing and I don't regret anything," he said.

Mr Putin also claimed sanctions imposed by the West after the annexation were aimed at halting Russia's progress as a global power and Western leaders would like to see Russia begging with its "cap in hand".