Sergei Shoigu, the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, has warned that geopolitical rivalry between large players in the international arena has intensified, increasing the risks of a military conflict between nuclear powers. Amid increased conflict behavior and intensified geopolitical rivalry, global risks of a military confrontation between large players, including nuclear powers, are heightening,” he told TASS in an interview.
Shoigu charged that Western countries have launched an aggression against the ideology and values in Russia and Belarus, as they have been attempting not only to attack by means of economic sanctions, but to destabilize the political situation in the two countries. This behavior on the part of the West affects not only Russia and Belarus but also the international situation in general, Shoigu argued.
“The WTO, the WHO, the OPCW, and other international organizations are being actively devalued,” the senior Russian security official lamented. “Attempts are being made to undermine global efforts toward preventing an arms race in space and turn outer space into a new sphere of military confrontation.”
“These actions are directly aimed at weakening our countries as they pursue the goal of depriving us of our sovereignty and right to choose our own path of development and realize strategic interests,” Shoigu concluded.
Shoigu also said that Russia’s nuclear umbrella covers Belarus and can be used in the same framework scenarios as Russia would for defense purposes. “In line with the political decision that we made, taking into account Belarus’ requests, Russia’s nuclear umbrella now extends to our closest ally and applies under the same framework scenarios that allow a nuclear response for Russia’s own defense,” he explained. This implies “defending against an attack using weapons of mass destruction or an aggression with conventional weapons that poses a critical threat to sovereignty or territorial integrity,” Shoigu specified.
“I’d like to note that the concept involves eliminating conditions for the emergence of wars and military conflicts, and mitigating risks of using nuclear weapons or other types of weapons of mass destruction,” Shoigu concluded.
