Speech of Minister of Defence of Republic of Belarus Lieutenant General Viktor Khrenin at 11th Moscow Conference on International Security
Ladies and gentlemen!
We, the Belarusians, have always paid great attention and respect to the assessments, made at such a representative international forum as the Moscow Conference.
In turn, speaking from this rostrum, the representatives of the Republic of Belarus each time tried to convey their view of the processes, taking place in the world, and reveal their underlying causes. Doing so, we have never adhered to the mainstream and standardized conclusions.
Therefore, speaking about what is happening today, let me once again call on our esteemed audience to analyze the situation from a non-trivial point of view, that differs from the assessments of most experts.
It is our deep conviction, that the liberal idea of globalization has not solved the problem of the inequality of states and peoples. Moreover, it has been tried to be used by the so-called 'golden billion' countries to secure their hegemony in a unipolar world model, that would allow them to control the resources of the entire planet. In fact, we can talk about the establishment of a new, neo-colonial regime on the planet.
And quite objectively, that these Western efforts have generated an opposite reaction in the rest of the world - a shift from globalization to protectionism of national interests.
We see how many countries have joined the struggle, fiercely defending their civilizational identity, independence, sovereignty and the right to constructive interaction in a multipolar world.
Today, this struggle has evolved into a global confrontation between East and West on the territory of Ukraine. At the same time, the proxy war, that has unfolded there, has actually brought the planet to the brink of World War III.
Nevertheless, individual Western politicians, through their actions, only continue to push the world into the abyss. They continue to think in terms of 'metropolises' and 'colonies', effectively reviving the slave trade in a new form.
For these modern neo-colonizers, their own citizens become 'living commodities'. We see the majority of Washington-controlled heads of state and government behaving like medieval slave traders, offering to throw the peoples of their countries into the 'meat grinder of war' for money.
In our opinion, the latest expansion of the North Atlantic Alliance is also a kind of colonization of new territories, in order to use the population, living there, in a probable war with the East. And the word "East" here should be understood to mean all states that are ready to resist Western domination.
There is no doubt that the European power elites are oriented precisely towards such a global war with the East.
The rhetoric of the participants in the recent NATO summit in Vilnius in July is illustrative in this regard. Despite the fact that many experts call it a 'soap bubble' in terms of expected momentous decisions, the hidden subtext of the statements made at it is clearly significant. The results of the summit reveal the alliance's plans for the development of the situation in the world in the near future.
Speaking of the European continent, in their vision, the Ukrainians should continue to die in battle, weakening Russia militarily. At the samne time, the power elites of the European Union will continue to zombify their citizens through the media, pursuing a hostile policy of dividing the Slavic peoples.
The goal is obvious - to shape the conditions so that the average European, or as the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell put it, 'the inhabitant of a civilized garden', is ready to fight and kill his eastern neighbors.
And it is not for nothing that the creation of a 300,000-strong group of NATO troops in high readiness on the 'eastern flank' of the alliance is declared. It would clearly be designed not for defense, but for surprise attack and to cover the strategic deployment of the main strike forces of the Western military-political bloc.
But even here there is an important nuance - this army will be created predominantly from the population of Europe. That is, once again, the people of other nations will die for American interests.
And the European nations do not even realize what fate is in store for them. Occasional protests and demonstrations in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and other countries are rather the exception to the rule. Much of European society is influenced by propaganda and is quietly prepared to sacrifice itself for the interests of others.
The presence of such interests and the orientation of Western elites toward large-scale war are evidenced by steps to dismantle the international security architecture and arms control. Today, this system, which prevents the collective West from realizing aggressive large-scale military building plans, has finally broken down. In other words, 'hands free'. And it is not by chance that Poland declares plans to 'create the strongest army on the territory of Europe'. Other European countries are not lagging behind, increasingly resorting to bellicose rhetoric.
In addition, the aggressive nature of the military policy of Western countries is no longer hidden behind the formulations about the exclusively defensive orientation of their military doctrines.
Their doctrinal documents continue to enshrine claims to global and regional dominance, which is to be achieved through the use of military force. Global and regional dominance is beginning to be seen as the primary means of pursuing national interests. The decision threshold for the application of military force is lowered.
National and coalition strategic planning documents of Western states openly name their enemies. Today, these are Russia, China and allied states, which include the Republic of Belarus.
We realize that such doctrinal attitudes are not born out in 'an empty place'. Intensive military preparations are underway in the West. There's a huge amount of money being invested in this. And it should be understood that in the capitalist world, no one will 'freeze' their assets in weapons and a 'bloated' army for nothing.
Therefore, the conclusion is unambiguous: the possibility of a direct military clash with NATO in the future is becoming very obvious.
As of today, 'all masks have been dropped'. The West's true plans are already being openly voiced by high-ranking officials.
Everyone remembers the statements of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel about the importance of the 'Minsk Agreements' in preparing aggression against Russia. In January of this year, the head of the German Foreign Ministry stated that in fact, 'NATO has already been at war with Russia'.
The only thing that restrains the power structures of the 'golden billion' countries from unleashing a large-scale war is the threat of a nuclear response to their actions.
It is not by chance that the Republic of Belarus considers the return of tactical nuclear weapons to its territory as an effective factor of strategic deterrence.
Non-state players in the form of terrorist and criminal organizations, radical religious movements, fifth columnists, united with diasporas abroad, are used to destroy 'undesirable' states and wage proxy wars on their territory.
It is these 'players' who are intensifying their attempts to realize their interests and win a place in the emerging world order. For this purpose, with the support of the West, they create their own armed formations, which can be used to destabilize target states, seize part of their territory by military means, and create new quasi-state formations on it.
We all know examples of this.
We have recently witnessed a Ukrainian-sponsored terrorist attack involving fighters of the so-called 'Russian Volunteer Corps' on the border territories of the Belgorod region.
The neighboring countries with the Republic of Belarus also train armed fighters from among the criminals who escaped from Belarus. At the same time, they say without secrecy that they will use them for military attacks on the Republic of Belarus.
Undoubtedly, such nationalist quasi-military formations themselves do not pose a significant threat from a military point of view. But under their "flag" can be involved formation military units and formations of Western countries.
At the same time, from the point of view of international law, it will be very difficult to accuse them of participating in aggression. After all, in this case they will claim that 'Belarusians are fighting against Belarusians', 'Russians are fighting against Russians' and so on.
What is depressing in this situation is the passivity of international organizations in assessing such actions. They continue to turn a blind eye to the sponsorship of terrorists by Western states.
The reason for this is clear to us - in fact, these international institutions have been 'privatized' by Western countries to serve their interests. Most of the functionaries of these international organizations are controlled by Western governments. They help them pursue their respective policies, helping to shape the conditions for the use of military force against states, seeking a more just world order.
And one should not wonder why the Republic of Belarus is an active participant of integration processes within the CSTO and CIS, and aspires to join the SCO and BRICS.
We simply see these organizations as alternative mechanisms for ensuring security by bringing peoples together.
But we also see that our ongoing integration efforts are breaking the West's plans.
It is not by chance that attempts are being made to bring discord into alliances of states, to tear countries away from each other, to involve them in the Western neo-colonial model of behavior. As part of such efforts, our allies are offered various alternative formats of cooperation, economic and financial preferences.
I will not repeat how dangerous could be the violation of unity in the CIS, CSTO and SCO formats is in the long term. The President of the Republic of Belarus has repeatedly said that short-term gains can cause a catastrophe in the future.
The current world situation leaves no doubt that we need to stick together, because our future largely depends on joint and consolidated work. It is obvious that only those, who remain united, will be able to pass the difficult stage of the formation of a new world order with the least shocks. That is why we are increasingly talking about the need to deepen integration.
Dear colleagues!
Belarus is a peace-loving country and is open for dialogue.
However, in this environment, we are forced to adjust our military policy. A new version of the National Security Concept of the Republic of Belarus will be adopted in the near future. At the same time, we are actively working on updating the provisions of the current Military Doctrine of the Republic of Belarus.
Nowadays, the drafts of these documents, which are significant for the state, like 'red thread' run through the thesis that we will do everything, so that no one would even try to tell the Belarusians how to live on their land. Our army is ready to repel anyone who attempts to encroach on the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and constitutional order of the Belarusian State or its allies.
But at the same time, and this will be proclaimed in the new doctrine, we do not plan to attack anyone, do not want to go to war with anyone and are always ready for a substantive discussion of any topical issues of international security.
It is quite obvious that the dialog must be resumed now, while there is still a way out of the stalemate and another world war is not unleashed. The position of the Republic of Belarus is unambiguous - to stop the war by any means. As it may be too late then
I hope that our message will be heard.