Highlights of Sergei Shoigu's address to the SCO Defence Ministers' Meeting
Dear colleagues!
First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to the Indian side for their hospitality and warm welcome.
Our meeting has traditionally focused on international and regional security issues, coordinating further steps to strengthen military cooperation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
As have been noted, today's meeting takes place against the background of a highly volatile international environment.
Fundamental, dynamic, and irreversible changes are taking place as the new multipolar world takes shape. This is actively opposed by the collective West.
In a bid to maintain global dominance, the US and its allies have severely eroded the global security architecture.
At their initiative, the process of breaking and dismantling key arms control and confidence-building agreements was set in motion.
At first, Washington unilaterally terminated the US-Soviet Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, refused to ratify the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty, then withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and Shorter-Range Missiles and the Treaty on Open Skies.
Today, this destructive behaviour is manifested in a desire to reshape the system of inter-state relations through the creation of subordinate regional alliances.
In the process, independent states are under unprecedented pressure, using blatant blackmail, threats, colour revolutions, and coups d'état, and spreading gross disinformation.
All this has long been a hallmark of the West.
As a result, the security arrangements and cooperation formats that have been developed over the decades are put to the test, frozen inter-state tensions are exacerbated, and the risk of local crises escalating into large-scale conflicts is growing.
In this connection, I would like to recall that Russia initiated a strategic stability dialogue with the West in 2021, which was supposed to address all security issues and identify possible ways of resolving them by political and diplomatic means. However, our proposals in this regard have been rejected, indicating unwillingness to build an equal partnership.
We have always stressed the importance of building equal and indivisible security, of preserving the central role of the UN, of upholding its Charter and its purposes and principles aimed at maintaining peace and stability.
We believe it is important to strengthen the role of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation as one of the pillars of the new multipolar international system, a model of inter-state relations based on equality and mutual respect, and observance of international law.
It is necessary to maintain close coordination within the SCO and to hold regular consultations on common security issues, both in multilateral and bilateral ways.
I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to attend the 11th Moscow Conference on International Security.
The event provided a meaningful forum for discussing the most pressing military-political problems, which is becoming particularly relevant in the current context.
Today, Washington and its enablers are pursuing their strategic agenda of provoking other countries into military confrontation with undesirable states, most notably Russia and China.
The conflict in Ukraine is a clear demonstration of this criminal policy. Its real aim is to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, threaten China, and maintain its monopoly position in the world.
More than five billion US dollars were spent on the Maidan anti-constitutional coup in 2014, leading to the formation of a hostile nationalist, Russophobic regime on our borders, which has rushed eagerly to solve the 'Russian question' in Ukraine.
Given the Kiev's refusal to implement the Minsk agreements and the real threat to the residents of Donbas, we decided to launch the special military operation.
In doing so, the West has demonstrated its advance preparation for a confrontation with the Russian Federation. Large-scale sanctions were immediately imposed on Russia, arms were supplied to Ukraine, intelligence were transmitted, and military advisers and mercenaries were sent to the combat zone.
In this way, the military capabilities and capacities of almost all the NATO countries were involved.
We have repeatedly stressed that arms deliveries to the Kiev only prolong the conflict, cause more casualties and destruction of infrastructure, and finally boomerang back, affecting the stability of Europe and the world as a whole.
The transferred weapons end up on the black market and go further into the hands of terrorist organisations, which poses additional risks, especially given the allegations of depleted uranium ammunition to be supplied to the AFU.
Russia has been left with no option but to eliminate the threats emanating from Ukraine militarily.
Our objectives are clear, and they will be achieved within the special military operation.
US military-biological activity is of particular concern.
We have repeatedly brought our concerns to the global community and noted that the Pentagon's implementation of the military biological programmes on the national territory and abroad poses a serious threat to other states and entire regions.
In the case of Ukraine, we see the dual purpose of these programmes and their actual focus on the development of biological weapons components, in direct violation of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.
Meanwhile, a part of the US biosecurity strategy is to shift the most dangerous research to the third countries.
All these activities continue also because of the inarticulate reactions of some states fearing of confrontation with the US authorities.
With that said, we will continue to closely monitor Washington's plans and share information on the biological threats that arise.
During the special military operation, Russia's partners experience pressure to isolate the Russian Federation
The West has launched global informational campaign to compromise the Russian leadership and it's policies.
With a disregard to the harm to its economic and political interests, the West demonstrates intransigence and readiness to continue the universal pressure.
In the end, all such attempts eventually fail.
In this regard, I would like to express my gratitude to the SCO member states for their principled position and support.
The SCO independent policies concerning regional and global security challenges could set as an example for international community.
The West's countermeasures for developing multilateralism could be evidently observed in the Asia–Pacific region. There the USA paved the way to disintegration of existing regional security system with the ASEAN member-states key role.
Military and political alliances, such as QUAD and AUKUS, initiated similar countermeasures.
The NATO is willing to establish dominance in Asia–Pacific region, that is why QUAD and AUKUS is integrating into the NATO.
The concept of a free and open Indo-Pacific region is now promoted.
The concept implies the construction of the intergovernmental relations bloc system in which the Americans arrogate to themselves the power to determine the norms and rules of behavior.
In order to contain China, a front is forming. The tension around the so-called Taiwan problem are purposely escalated, and territorial disputes in the South China Sea and East China Sea are being heated.
In our understanding, one of the major achievements in the Asia–Pacific region is bloc-free and equal interaction and it must be preserved.
The existing mechanisms of cooperation with extra-regional partners have shown their relevance and effectiveness.
First and foremost, this is the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting and Partners, the ADMM Plus format, which focuses on topical security issues.
In addition, there is positive experience of cooperation within the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, of implementing mutually beneficial projects on a bilateral basis.
The prerequisites in the Central Asian region could lead to further escalation.
At the same time, numerous radical extremist groups entrenched in the territory of Afghanistan pose the main threat, promoting their ideas and efforts in neighboring republics.
The probability of infiltration by gangs of various international terrorist organisations, such as ISIS, al-Qaeda, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and the Islamic Movement of East Turkestan, is increasing.
Clear coordination and stepping up our efforts against terrorism, separatism, and extremism is required in order to resolve the current situation in the region, as well as introducing mitigation measures.
To our mind, the topic of Afghanistan must be kept on the agenda of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
Only comprehensive international and regional assistance can facilitate measures to overcome challenges Afghanistan faces alone.
I note that NATO countries, as a result of their twenty-year presence on Afghan soil and their subsequent rapid withdrawal, bear the greatest responsibility for the situation there. They should bear the main financial expenses of post-conflict reconstruction.
Instead, the U.S. and its allies, under the pretext of countering terrorism, are trying to restore their military presence in the Central Asia.
We regard requests to regional countries to deploy military infrastructure as a direct threat to stability in the SCO region.
Similarly, we are increasing the combat readiness of the Russian military bases in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, as well as other response forces to possible challenges.
Strengthening cooperation within the SCO, as a universal structure that upholds the principles of multilateralism based on the international law, due to the global and regional security systems imbalance becomes increasingly important.
In the context of outside forces attempts to undermine the SCO cohesion and provoke internal crises in member states, it is vital to ensure the sustainability of our Organisation.
Consistent implementation of the agreements reached at the highest level to overhaul the SCO's work, including mechanisms for responding to challenges and threats is of utmost importance.
Maintaining peace and security must constantly remain a key priority.
To achieve the aforementioned goal, we propose to focus on the implementation of the following tasks.
First. To develop a information exchange mechanism concerning military security within the SCO.
The expert working group at the SCO Council of Heads of Defence has drafted an agreement on organisation of information exchange between defence agencies of SCO countries and its protection, which will serve as a basis for such cooperation.
I suggest that it be expedited to the States.
Second. To deepen military cooperation with an emphasis on joint exercises and other combat training activities.
To work on them to counteract the new methods and techniques used by terrorist organisations.
We are ready to share our combat experience.
We need to expand the forms of our interaction. The use of unmanned aerial vehicles and countermeasures, information and biological security could be the promising areas.
It is also worth thinking about realising the Organisation's peacekeeping potential.
Third. To develop partnerships with other regional integration associations, primarily with the CSTO and CIS.
Invite them, as well as representatives of friendly countries, to participate in individual SCO events.
Such an approach would help spread the 'Shanghai spirit' among the global community.
In conclusion, let me express confidence that the outcomes of today's meeting will serve as a solid foundation for further progressive development of the SCO and maintaining stability and security in the Organisation's area of responsibility.
Thank you for attention!