“The world is rapidly plunging into a new confrontation” - Shoigu

The situation in the world is rapidly deteriorating, flowing into a new confrontation that will be more serious than the Cold War.

This was stated by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, speaking at the opening of the Moscow Conference on International Security, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

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The head of the department outlined a number of potentially dangerous areas where the confrontation is intensifying. In particular, the Asia-Pacific region.

“Countries in the region are being forced to make a choice by imposing the creation of structures similar to NATO. As in Europe, advanced high-readiness groups are being created here, strike and aircraft carrier groups are being deployed, and ships from the Alliance countries are increasingly being involved in naval exercises, in addition to the states of the region, which increases the risk of incidents during military activities. If in Europe, since the Cold War, crisis response systems have been created, which include a number of bilateral agreements to prevent incidents during the actions of aviation and naval forces, then in the Asia-Pacific region there are no such mechanisms, they simply do not exist. The situation is aggravated by the presence of territorial disputes and the unilateral declaration of so-called airspace control zones,” Shoigu said.

“Another trend in recent years has been the large-scale deployment of missile defense systems and their coupling with strike weapons. Russian experts have repeatedly pointed out the destabilizing role of missile defense in the Asia-Pacific region. Our assessments of the situation have been fully confirmed in Europe, where regional missile defense is now presented as one of the elements of NATO's containment of Russia. Therefore, statements about the non-targeting of missile defense against Russia and China do not stand up to criticism,” the head of the defense department noted.

According to him, the situation in Afghanistan deserves special attention.

“The development of the situation in Afghanistan requires close attention from both neighboring countries and international organizations. It must be admitted that during the 20 years of the presence of a significant military group of the Western Alliance in the country, it was never able to achieve significant results in stabilizing and forming stable structures of government. After the withdrawal of NATO forces, with a high probability we can expect a resumption of the civil war with all the negative consequences, a further deterioration in the life of the population, mass emigration and the spread of extremism to neighboring states,” the minister emphasized.

In Europe, according to Shoigu, NATO’s actions directly threaten the security of Russia and its allies.

“Today, the trend towards intensifying military confrontation has become firmly established on the continent. The North Atlantic bloc is increasing the number of groupings at a high level of readiness, working out routes for the operational transfer of troops to the borders of the Union State of Russia and Belarus. A typical example was the Defender Europe exercise, during which offensive operations on the eastern flank of the Alliance were practiced,” says the minister.

The existing Russia-NATO Council is also not conducive to détente, since the Alliance is rapidly trying to transform itself from a regional structure into a global one.

“The NATO summit, held in Brussels on June 14, confirmed the transformation of the bloc from a regional to a global military-political alliance, the main task of which is to contain Russia and China. The decisions taken at the summit to increase military spending by member states and improve their nuclear deterrence potential will cement the military confrontation in Europe for years to come.

At the same time, the formal dialogue that Brussels proposes to continue within the framework of the Russia-NATO Council does not reduce tensions in bilateral relations. Moreover, some European countries are interested in escalating the conflict with Russia. An example is the actions of Ukraine, which on the eve of the Brussels summit provoked another crisis in the Donbass. In general, the situation in Europe is explosive, which requires concrete steps to de-escalate it,” says the Minister of Defense.

The development of modern methods of war, in particular in space and the Internet, also adds risks to the world.

“Space and cyber space are increasingly involved in military confrontation. Space and cyber commands are being created within the armed forces of a number of countries, the main task of which is not defense, but planning and conducting offensive operations in relevant areas. A careful attitude towards international obligations is being replaced by unilateral sanctions and the introduction of a certain order based on rules invented by someone unknown. The world is rapidly plunging into a new confrontation. Much more dangerous than the Cold War. The military all over the world, like no other professional community, understands that war is a disaster,” Shoigu concluded.