TSAMTO, August 24. A meeting of defense ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member countries is taking place in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.
The meeting is attended by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, military delegations from India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as from Belarus as an observer country at the SCO.
Below, S. Shoigu's speech at the meeting is given in the presentation of the Department and Mass Communications of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
As the head of the Russian military department stated in his speech at the very beginning of the meeting, threats are escalating in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization region, as well as in the world as a whole, local crises are not subsiding, new serious challenges are emerging. The United States and the collective West, seeking to maintain global dominance, are exerting unprecedented pressure on independent states. For this purpose, undisguised blackmail, threats, color revolutions and coups d'etat are used, and gross misinformation is being spread. As a result of the confrontational actions of the West and the sanctions imposed by it, the situation in the global economy is deteriorating, communications are collapsing, and a food crisis is being artificially created.
"In these conditions," Sergei Shoigu noted, "the role of the SCO as a new center of power and a model of interstate relations based on equality and mutual respect, a guarantor of compliance with international law, is steadily increasing. Therefore, it is important to strengthen cooperation in the military sphere, regularly consult in bilateral and multilateral formats on issues of common security."
Such approaches are recorded in the final documents prepared for signing at the current meeting.
On August 16, the X Moscow Conference on International Security was held, at which the situation in this area was analyzed in detail. The Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation proposed to continue discussing the identified problems and to hold a meeting of defense ministers of the SCO and CIS member states, as well as other friendly countries in Moscow in December.
"Today," Sergei Shoigu said, "a tough sanctions and information war has been unleashed against Russia. And the conflict in Ukraine has become just another excuse for this. The stated goal of the United States and its accomplices is the strategic exhaustion of Russia in order to eliminate competition and prevent other states pursuing an independent foreign policy. We have made considerable efforts to form the legal foundations of stability in Europe in the new conditions, but the West, led by Washington, refused to take into account our concerns about guarantees of mutual security, primarily on the neutral status of Ukraine. The questions of principle for us about the non-expansion of NATO to the east, the non-deployment of strike weapons and the refusal of military activity near the Russian borders were ignored."
Ukraine was chosen as the instrument of the hybrid war against Russia. Kiev, which refused to implement the Minsk agreements, posed a real threat to the residents of Donbass, and in the future – to the Russian Federation. Understanding this led to the need for a special military operation in Ukraine.
As the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation noted, it is going according to the planned plan, all tasks will be completed.
"During the special operation," he said, "we strictly observe the norms of humanitarian law. Strikes are carried out with precision weapons on the military infrastructure of Ukraine – control points, airfields, warehouses, fortified areas, objects of the military-industrial complex. At the same time, everything is being done to avoid civilian casualties. Of course, this slows down the pace of the offensive, but we are doing it consciously. Systematic work was organized in the liberated territories to establish a peaceful life. We are providing humanitarian assistance, restoring infrastructure and life support systems."
"At the same time," Sergei Shoigu said, "Ukrainian military formations use scorched earth tactics, grossly violate international norms, and act like terrorists. They use residential buildings, schools, hospitals, kindergartens as firing positions, place tanks and artillery in them, and cover themselves with the population as a human shield. Settlements are being purposefully shelled and remotely mined with Petal anti-personnel mines in order to inflict as much damage as possible to civilians and infrastructure."
The Minister particularly noted the facts of the implementation of the American military biological program in Ukraine revealed during the special operation. "The documents we have published," he said, "confirm that the Pentagon has funded more than 30 Ukrainian biolabs. High-risk studies were conducted secretly, with the participation and guidance of specialists from the United States. Components of biological weapons were developed, methods of destabilizing the epidemiological situation were tested, and strains of dangerous microorganisms were collected and exported to the United States. Such actions pose a direct threat to the SCO countries."
There is evidence of Ukraine's violation of international standards for the treatment of prisoners of war. Videos of their torture and brutal murders are posted on the Internet by the perpetrators of such inhumane acts themselves.
Now a large number of Ukrainian servicemen, knowing about the humane attitude of the Russian side to prisoners of war, voluntarily lay down their weapons.
However, the Kiev regime, in order to intimidate and prevent the surrender of others, as well as fearing revealing testimony, is cracking down on its own soldiers. So, a blow was struck at the pre-trial detention center in Yelenovka, where Ukrainian prisoners of war were being held, including the so-called Azov residents. As a result, 50 people were killed and 73 injured.
The United States and its allies continue to pump Ukraine with weapons, which increases the number of victims and delays the conflict. The impact on Russia's partners in order to isolate it also continues.
The Russian Defense Minister expressed gratitude to his SCO colleagues for their principled position and support. "The independent course of the SCO states in solving the problems of regional and global security," he said, "is an example for the whole world."
As for the southern flank of our Organization – Southeast Asia - there is also a complex of complex interstate contradictions, hotbeds of tension are forming with a difficult–to-predict scenario of events.
To ensure global hegemony, Washington is attempting to split the regional security architecture. Blocks of military-political orientation are being created, such as QUAD and AUKUS. The States of the region are involved in cooperation with NATO. By analogy with Europe, a front is being formed to contain China.
The so-called Taiwan problem is purposefully escalating, territorial disputes in the South China and East China Seas are being heated up.
"We believe," Sergei Shoigu said, "that security in the region can be ensured only through joint efforts, taking into account the interests of all states, with the central role of ASEAN and other multilateral cooperation mechanisms."
A serious security challenge in Central Asia remains the situation in Afghanistan, where the international terrorist organizations ISIS and Al-Qaeda are becoming more active.
Against the background of the ongoing armed confrontation, the socio-economic situation is deteriorating in the country, the ideology of religious radicalism is being planted, drug trafficking and cross-border crime are flourishing.
"We welcome any international initiatives on the Afghan settlement and at the same time take measures to ensure security in the Central Asian region," Sergei Shoigu added.
In June, the first meeting of the heads of defense departments of the Central Asian countries and Russia was held in Moscow, at which the situation in the Afghan direction and ways to stabilize it were considered.
"We believe," Sergei Shoigu said, "that such meetings will be in demand at the Shosov site, including to strengthen coordination between our law enforcement agencies. Moreover, Afghanistan is an observer state at the SCO. For our part, we are increasing the combat readiness of Russian military bases in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, as well as other response forces to possible crisis situations. We assign an important role to the training of troops."
In the autumn, a series of maneuvers along the CSTO line will be held in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Next year, a joint military anti-terrorist command and staff exercise of the SCO countries "Peace Mission – 2023" will be held on the territory of Russia.
The Russian Defense Minister further stated that maintaining peace and security remains a key priority of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. To do this, he suggested focusing on the implementation of the following tasks: "First. To develop within the framework of the SCO a mechanism for the exchange of information in the field of military security. To create a legal basis for such cooperation, we have developed a draft agreement on the organization of an operational exchange of information between the defense departments of the SCO member states and its protection. We will send it to you for consideration in the near future.
Second. To increase the effectiveness of the SCO's military potential. To activate and fill with practical content the activities of the Expert Working Group at the SCO CFR. Instruct her to prepare proposals on promising areas of cooperation between the defense departments of our countries. Such areas could be the fight against unmanned aerial vehicles, information and biological security.
The third. To improve the training of troops and the practice of joint exercises. To establish the exchange of best practices and the development of new ways to counter illegal armed groups."
At the end of his speech, Sergei Shoigu expressed confidence that the results of today's meeting will become a solid foundation for the further progressive development of the SCO, maintaining stability and security in the area of responsibility of the Organization, the Department of Information and Mass Communications of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reports.
