Speaking this morning at the Beijing Xiangshan Forum, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu warned of the danger of an expansion of NATO to the Asia Pacific region. He said that the West is trying to expand the Ukraine conflict to the Asia-Pacific region, and that the Western rhetoric about “the indivisibility of Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security” is intended to justify the presence of NATO forces in Asia, something, he indicated that “is completely different from the principle of indivisibility of security advocated by Russia and China.”
He said that the NATO countries, the U.K., France, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy, are increasing their navy, air force and other military presence in the Asia-Pacific region, increasing the frequency and scale of multilateral military exercises, and formulating action plans for deterrence and confrontation during the exercises. He said that NATO was trying to cover up its military build-up in the region by increasing “dialogue” with its partner countries in the region. He said, however, that the circle of friends in the region who do not want to be involved in a “confrontational agenda imposed by the West” is getting bigger.
He warned that the West’s attempt to curtail Russia through its Ukraine war carries the threat of a direct military clash between the nuclear powers. “A military clash between nuclear powers could be a consequence of the West’s line of successive escalation of the conflict with Russia,” he said. He explained the Russian position that they would only use nuclear weapons in the event of an attack on Russia with nuclear weapons or if the existence of the Russian state were threatened.
