'US trying to fracture regional security for global hegemony,' says Russia's Defence Min

Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu has said that the US is trying to dismantle the regional security architecture for "global hegemony." Shoigu alleged that the US is attempting to enforce a 'global hegemony' by creating politico-military blocs like QUAD and AUKUS. He made the remarks at the meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Defence Ministers' Meeting on August 24. 

"Washington is attempting to fracture the regional security architecture to ensure global hegemony. He noted, politico-military blocs are being created, such as QUAD and AUKUS. Countries in the region are engaged in cooperation with NATO. A front is formed to deter China," Sergey Shoigu said. 

Shoigu alleged that countries are being drawn into cooperation with NATO and a front is being established to "deter China," according to the statement released by Russian Defence Ministry. He said that Russia is "concerned" over the situation in Southeast Asia and added that, "there is also a complex set of complex interstate contradictions and hotbeds of tension with a hard-to-predict scenario of events." 

The Russian Defence Minister also called for joint efforts of all nations for ensuring security in the Southeast Asia region and highlighted the role of ASEAN and other multilateral cooperation mechanisms. He underscored that the issue regarding Taiwan is "being deliberately aggravated" and territorial disputes in the South China Sea and the East China Sea are being "fuelled." Moreover, he claimed that the US and its allies have been working to "strategically deplete" Russia to remove rivalry and warn other nations who are following their independent foreign policy. 

Ukraine chosen as 'instrument of hybrid war against Russia': Shoigu

Stressing that Ukraine is selected as an "instrument of hybrid war against Russia", Shoigu added that Kyiv posed a "real threat" as it did not agree to work on the Minsk agreements. Furthermore, he stated that the US and its allies continue to provide weapons to Ukraine which causes an increase in the number of casualties and prolongs the conflict, according to the statement released by Russian Defence Ministry.

Documents show that US Defence Department financed more than 30 Ukrainian bio-laboratories, he claimed, adding that the research is being conducted with the guidance of US specialists. Components of biological weapons were being created and methods to destabilize the epidemiological situation were "tested" and called the actions a "direct threat to SCO countries," he alleged. 

Notably, the SCO Defence Ministers' meeting was attended by ministers of India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Belarus participated in the meeting as an SCO observer state. 

Image: AP