Security Crises, Turmoil In Ukraine, E. Europe Masterminded By US – Russian Defence Minister

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has accused the United States as the mastermind, not Russia, of the ongoing security crises and turmoil breaking Ukraine and stoking fears in eastern Europe. He said what the U.S. really wanted is to dominate Kiev just so it can push it to enter NATO, and then pointing to Russia as the troublemaker.

"The United States and its allies have crossed all possible lines in their drive to bring Kiev into their orbit,” Shoigu said. The West’s strong drive to have Ukraine enlist into the military alliance had forced it to react. “That could not have failed to trigger our reaction."

General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, told the same meeting it was the U.S. that is the one destabilising the current world order. "Considering themselves the winners of the Cold War, the United States decided to reshape the world to fit its needs.

The development of the U.S.-led NATO missile shield in Europe was also a threat to strategic stability, Shoigu said. That US global missile defense system, plus the “geographical focus” of NATO’s military drills, the “eastern flank of the alliance and the Arctic region only,” pose as evidence of the military alliance’s “anti-Russian intentions." NATO had repeatedly debunked the claims of Russia, saying the system was defensive on behalf of its member-states. It is not aimed against Russia, it said.

Gerasimov said the moves the U.S. and its NATO partners are playing are dangerous and could involve a "military threat for Russia.” He said the West is fuelling the conflicts across Russia’s border because it wants to "bring Russia to its knees." Gerasimov vowed this won’t happen because Moscow would defend itself.

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