The US has broken all the rules by dragging Ukraine into its orbit as part of its wider plan to expand NATO and alienate Russia’s neighbors, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told a security conference in Moscow.
“It its effort to draw Kiev into its orbit the US and its closest allies have crossed all imaginable lines, and our reaction could not fail to follow,” he said, adding that the enforcement of the so-called European choice in Ukraine led to a civil war, in which over 6,000 people have already been killed.
“A group of countries that presume to be the winners in the Cold War” are trying to impose their will on other nations Shoigu said.
READ MORE: ‘Unprecedented & dangerous step’: Russia slams NATO troop build-up
The Ukrainian conflict is part of a larger Western plan to undermine Russia, the minister stated. Washington and its allies are trying to alienate Russia’s neighbors through a combination of misrepresenting Russia’s stance as aggressive and offering investments and lucrative military programs to their governments.
“NATO countries are actively pursuing an expansion of their geopolitical space, building up the military capabilities in Eastern Europe and closing in on Russia’s border. The focus of their drills in the alliance’s eastern front and Arctic region indicates their anti-Russian nature,” he stressed.
Another example is the US-led project for a European antiballistic missile system, which Washington long insisted was targeting ‘rogue nations’ like Iran and North Korea. Moscow believes the system is aimed at Russia.
“Our forecasts of how the ABM system development would proceed are coming true. We confirm the implementation of the American antimissile architecture poses a threat to strategic stability,” Shoigu said.
“It is obvious now that missile threats from Tehran invented by the US and members of the alliance proved to be bluffing. Even after the breakthrough in talks on the Iranian nuclear program nobody expects any changes in the US-NATO antimissile plans,” he added.
READ MORE: Tehran threat? Russia questions US, EU motives behind missile shield in Europe
The Russian military see a rising threat to the country’s national security from NATO,” the minister said.
American “unilateral solutions in military security, plans to reach absolute military dominance go against legitimate interests of other nations,” he said.
The European component of the ABM system poses a danger not only to Russia’s nuclear deterrent, but also a threat of direct missile attack against Russia, Russian General Staff Chief Valery Gerasimov said at the conference.
“The MK-41 vertical missile launchers that are part of AEGIS Ashore ground-based antimissile systems deployed in Romania and Poland can fire not only SM-3 antimissile rockets but also Tomahawk cruise missiles,” he said.
“The non-nuclear nations hosting ABM system elements are becoming priority targets for our countermeasure.”
The fourth annual Moscow security conference hosted by the Russian Defense Ministry is being attended by representatives of over 70 nations and six leading international organizations, the ministry reported.