US 'uses terrorists as geopolitical tool' against Moscow, claims Russian security official

A top Russian security official, on May 24, accused the United States of using terrorist organisations as a geopolitical tool. In an interview with the Argumenty i Fakty monthly, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev stated that terrorist organisations are frequently used by the US as a geopolitical tool, particularly against Russia. Patrushev used a proverb to describe Western countries' attempts to accuse Russia of state-level terrorism. He referenced the proverb, "God marks the crook."

In response to a Western request to declare Russia a terrorist state, he remarked, "It is now easy to determine which of the world's top terrorist organisations did not emerge with American support. Even with our country, the US frequently employs them as a tool of geopolitical confrontation."

According to the official, Al-Qaeda (which is illegal in Russia) was formed under US intelligence control in the mid-1980s to challenge the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. To preserve its power in Afghanistan and Central Asia in the 1990s, the US created the Taliban (now illegal in Russia), the Russian official said.

Patrushev specified, "Guided by its alleged ‘national interests,’ the US militarily deposed unwanted regimes in Libya, Iraq, attempted to do so in Syria. And the main strike force in all cases involved radical groups whose further unification led to the creation of a terrorist monster named the Islamic State that got out of the US control following Al-Qaeda and the Taliban movement."

Russia is 'not chasing any deadlines'

In reference to the ongoing conflict, Patrushev stated that Russia would achieve its objectives in Ukraine regardless of deadlines and that 'Nazism' must be completely eradicated or it will resurface. Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 in what it calls a "special military operation" to "denazify" and "demilitarise" its neighbour. Throughout the three-month campaign, Russian forces have suffered numerous setbacks and significant losses. Patrushev also claimed that the West was using Ukraine to contain Russia, echoing President Vladimir Putin's justifications for the conflict.

"We are not chasing any deadlines. Nazism must either be 100% eradicated, or it will raise its head again in a few years’ time, and will take an even uglier form," Patrushev emphasised.

(Image: AP)