Russian Defense Minister Shoigu Accuses West Of Trying To Expand Ukraine's War On Asia-Pacific

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. (Source: RIA Novosti via Kremlin.ru)

JAKARTA - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the West wanted to expand the conflict in Ukraine to the Asia-Pacific region, state media reported, citing ministerial comments at a defense forum in Beijing, China on Monday.

Speaking at the Xiangshan Forum, Minister Shoigu said NATO covered up the buildup of power in the Asia-Pacific region with a "big desire for dialogue," the TASS news agency reported.

Shoigu said NATO countries are promoting an arms race in the Asia-Pacific region, increasing military presence and frequency as well as the scale of military exercises there.

US troops will use the exchange of information with Tokyo and Seoul over missile launches to eject Russia and China, Shoigu said.

Not only that, he also accused Washington of trying to use climate change and natural disasters as an excuse to "humanitarian intervention".

He further said the emergence of security blocs such as Quad and AUKUS weakened the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the region's non-nuclear proliferation efforts.

At the same time, he said, Russia's move to lift the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty does not mean the end of the agreement, with Russia not lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons.

"We are just trying to restore balance with the United States, which has not ratified this agreement," Shoigu said, citing Reuters from RIA Oct. 30.

"We are not talking about its destruction," he continued.

Shoigu said Moscow was ready to hold talks on resolving the post-conflict Ukraine crisis regarding further coexistence with the West, but Western countries had to stop strategically defeating Russia.

Explaining the conditions for the negotiations did not yet exist, Shoigu said: "It is also important to ensure equal relations between all nuclear countries and permanent members of the UN Security Council, which bear special responsibility for upholding global peace and stability."