KIEV: Russian President Vladimir Putin's goal is to destroy Ukraine as an independent country and to restore the Soviet Union, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said on Saturday.

Speaking at an conference in Kiev attended by European and Ukrainian lawmakers and business leaders, Yatseniuk also praised a new wave of economic sanctions imposed on Russia by the European Union and the United States and said they posed a major threat to the Russian economy.

“We are still in a stage of war and the key aggressor is the Russian Federation ... Putin wants another frozen conflict (in eastern Ukraine),” Yatseniuk said.

“His goal is to take the entire Ukraine ... Russia is a threat to the global order and to the security of the entire Europe.”