Western leaders are falsely claiming Moscow intends to attack their nations in order to justify stoking the Ukraine conflict, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu warned on Friday.
The minister rebuked the US-led military bloc during a meeting with his counterparts from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a nine-strong Eurasian economic and defense group that includes Russia, India and China. The organization is regarded as the biggest geographic regional grouping on Earth and accounts for some 20% of global GDP.
Unlike the US and its allies, Russia does not seek to meddle in the affairs of other states, Shoigu said. Meanwhile, NATO has expanded six times since 1999 – in violation of promises given to Moscow – creating a direct military threat to Russia, he added.
”We did not come to them, they came to us,” he said. “This proves once again that the West cannot be trusted.” NATO’s intention to absorb Ukraine, and its increasing presence in the country, was one of the key triggers of hostilities with Russia, according to Moscow.
Western nations have pledged to support Kiev “for as long as it takes” to defeat Russia, and have donated an unprecedented amount of weapons for the Ukrainian war effort.
”They now claim that if Russia is not stopped in Ukraine, we will attack members of the alliance,” Shoigu said, referring to a claim that senior US officials, including President Joe Biden, have made to justify sending more military aid to Kiev.
”Russia has never threatened NATO,” the Russian minister said, stressing that an attack on the bloc would in no way serve Russia’s geopolitical or military interests.
Shoigu’s speech in Astana, Kazakhstan, came on the same day that Western donors held a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which coordinates arms supplies. Washington is expected to announce a new $6 billion batch of aid during the event.