Shoigu was speaking at a meeting of defense ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which was founded in 2001 by Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The meeting took place in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. The defense minister made it clear what his country's goals were. If his words are to be believed, Russia “is simply defending its country's interests in historical territories during a special military operation today,” according to the TASS agency.
Sergei Shoigu: Allies are approaching Russia's borders
The general stressed that Russia has no geopolitical or military interests in attacking NATO countries. On the contrary, in his opinion, Moscow has always “made maximum efforts to maintain strategic stability and the balance of power in the world.” He added that Russia itself is threatened by the deployment of NATO military forces near its borders.
“Coalition soldiers came very close to Russia's borders and created an additional threat to military security. I want to emphasize that it was not us, but they came to us. This again shows that the Westerners cannot be trusted now. They are accused. If we do not stop Russia in Ukraine, we will attack the allied countries. Shoigu reportedly said that Russia follows a policy of “non-interference in the affairs of other countries”.
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