Speech by Russian Defence Minister General of the Army Sergei Shoigu to the Council of Defence Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation
"...The situation in the Eastern European region of collective security has deteriorated significantly.
Despite Russia's efforts, the West has failed to take into account proposals to resolve the key issues for our security - not to expand NATO eastwards and not to deploy strike weapons near Russian territory. Everything was done exactly the opposite.
The US has taken a course to completely dismantle the established international security structure, accompanied by the global deployment of a missile defence system and the development of intermediate-range and shorter-range missile systems.
The North Atlantic alliance has come very close to our borders and has increased its combat capabilities.
Efforts were intensified to make Ukraine a NATO member, to deploy coalition military infrastructure on its territory, and the country itself was transformed into a state hostile to us, used as an instrument of pressure on Russia.
Moreover, there is a real threat of Ukraine developing nuclear weapons and their means of delivery.
On its territory, a network of more than 30 biolaboratories has been formed for the US military and biological programme. It has been documented that the research was carried out secretly, in breach of international obligations.
In the immediate vicinity of our borders, components of biological weapons were in fact being created, techniques to destabilise the epidemiological situation were being tested.
Under Western patronage, Ukrainian society developed Russophobic nationalist sentiments and Russian language, Russian culture and our common history were persecuted.
Those who disagreed with this development were simply eliminated.
For eight years, the Kiev regime has methodically shelled towns and villages in Donbass. During this time over 14,000 people died and some 33,000 were injured. All our attempts to force Kiev to implement the Minsk agreements have been in vain, it has simply ignored them.
In the emerging situation, Russia was forced to launch the special military operation to protect people from genocide, as well as demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine and ensure its nuclear-free and neutral status.
Fearing the defeat of the Ukrainian forces, the West has urgently organised the supply of lethal weapons.
A widespread campaign to misinform the global community about the true causes of the crisis is underway.
Military advisers and employees of private military companies are being sent into the country, and the number of foreign mercenaries has exceeded six thousand.
The Kiev regime is using terrorist methods against its own people to hold on to power. The nationalists carry out demonstrative shootings of those who refuse to take part in the fighting, block the exit of civilians from cities using them as human shields, and disperse tanks and artillery in residential areas.
The release of criminals and the uncontrolled distribution of weapons led to widespread violence and looting.
Numerous cases of torture and brutal murders of Russian POWs are known. And there is no hiding it.
However, the West refuses to accept these facts. So-called civilised countries not only deny the existence of neo-Nazism in Ukraine, but also honourably host representatives of Nazi units implicated in bloody atrocities.
The Russian Armed Forces, unlike the Ukrainian ones, do not strike civilian infrastructure where civilians might be located. Detected enemy firing positions and military installations are hit with high-precision weapons.
Ceasefire regimes and humanitarian corridors are being set up to enable people to leave the surrounded settlements. No doubt this slows down the pace of the offensive, but it is done deliberately to avoid civilian casualties.
Despite massive Western assistance to the Kiev regime and sanctions pressure on Russia, we will continue the special military operation until all tasks have been completed.
Long-term hotspots of tension are forming along the CSTO's borders.
This requires clear coordination and continuous improvement of the collective security system's capabilities, decision-making and crisis response mechanisms.
We are determined to further develop cooperation within the Organisation on all major fronts. This is also particularly important because Western countries are working deliberately to undermine the alliance between the CSTO states.
We know the kind of pressure our allies are under. The threats, blackmail and intrigue are blatant. All of this - requires us to be even more united, more active and better coordinated.
Russia will continue to provide the necessary assistance to its allies in neutralising emerging threats and defending its sovereignty."