This was collated from the RuMod Telegram Channel and is not the usual transcript as that is not available yet. The first section is here: https://t.me/mod_russia_en/3683

The role of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation as a new centre of power is growing amid a turbulent international environment, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said.

▫️”Under these conditions, the role of the SCO as a new centre of power, a model of relations between states based on equality and mutual respect, a guarantor of international law is steadily growing,” said Sergei Shoigu, speaking at the meeting of defence ministers of SCO member states.

▫️”Therefore,” he stressed, “it is important to strengthen cooperation in the military sphere and consult regularly in bilateral and multilateral formats on issues of common security.

▫️Such approaches are documented in the outcome documents prepared for signature during the current meeting, the Russian Defence Minister said.

▫️In his assessment, “Today’s meeting is taking place against the backdrop of an extremely unstable international situation.

▫️”In Shanghai Cooperation Organization region, as well as in the world at large, threats are escalating, local crises are not subsiding, and new serious challenges are emerging,” Sergei Shoigu said.

The United States and the collective West are exerting unprecedented pressure on independent states

▫️”The United States and the collective West,” he said, “are exerting unprecedented pressure on independent states to maintain global dominance. To this end they use blatant blackmail, threats, colour revolutions and coups, and spread gross disinformation”.

▫️”Confrontational actions and sanctions imposed by the West are worsening the situation in the global economy, ruining communications, artificially creating a food crisis,” the Russian Defence Minister said.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has proposed holding a joint meeting of defence ministers of SCO member states, CIS members and other friendly countries to discuss coalition security issues in December this year.

▫️”X Moscow Conference on International Security was held on August 16, during which a detailed analysis of the situation in this sphere was conducted. I propose to continue discussing the outlined problems and hold a joint meeting of defence ministers of SCO member states, CIS members and other friendly countries in Moscow this December,” Shoigu said, speaking at a meeting of defence ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation member states.

🤝 He thanked his colleagues who personally attended the Forum and sent their delegations to the conference.

▫️”The opinions expressed by you and the support provided are important to us,” said Sergei Shoigu.

Conflict in Ukraine has become another pretext for the United States and its allies to unleash an economic and information war against Russia, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a meeting of defence ministers of SCO member states.

▫️”Today, a tough sanctions and information war has been unleashed against Russia. And the conflict in Ukraine is just another pretext for this. The aim of the US and its allies is to strategically deplete Russia to eliminate rivalry and warn other states pursuing an independent foreign policy,” said Sergei Shoigu.

▫️He noted, however, that Russia has made “significant efforts to establish a legal basis for stability in Europe in the new environment.”

▫️”However, the West, led by Washington, refused to take into account our concerns regarding guarantees of mutual security, first and foremost the neutral status of Ukraine,” the Russian Defence Minister said.

▫️According to him, issues of principle for the Russian side – not to expand NATO to the east, not to deploy shock weapons and to refrain from military activities near Russian borders – were ignored.

▫️”Ukraine has been chosen as an instrument of hybrid warfare against Russia,” said Sergei Shoigu.

Necessity of the special military operation in Ukraine was dictated by real threats from Kiev to the residents of Donbass, and subsequently to Russia, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has said.

▫️”There was a real threat from Kiev, which refused to implement the Minsk agreements, to the residents of Donbass and, in the future, to the Russian Federation. Understanding this led to the need for the special military operation in Ukraine,” said Sergei Shoigu, speaking at a meeting of defence ministers of SCO member states.

▫️According to the Russian Defence Minister, the special military operation “is proceeding as planned, all tasks will be completed.”

Slowing down of pace of the offensive during the special military operation in Ukraine is a conscious decision, driven by the desire to minimise civilian casualties, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a meeting of defence ministers of SCO member states

▫️”In the special operation, we are strictly observing the norms of humanitarian law. The strikes are carried out with high-precision weapons against the military infrastructure of the Ukrainian armed forces: command posts, airfields, depots, fortifications and facilities of the military-industrial complex. In doing so, everything is being done to avoid civilian casualties. Of course, this slows down the pace of the offensive, but we are doing it deliberately,” Shoigu said.

▫️The Ukrainian military is using scorched earth tactics, acting like terrorists. According to him, the Russian military “organized systematic work in the liberated territories to establish a peaceful life.” “We are providing humanitarian aid, restoring infrastructure and life support systems,” the Russian Defence Minister said.

▫️At the same time, he said, “Ukrainian military units are using scorched earth tactics, blatantly violating international norms, and acting like terrorists.”

▫️”They use residential buildings, schools, hospitals, kindergartens as firing positions, place tanks and artillery in them, using population as human shield. They deliberately shell and remotely mine populated areas with anti-personnel mines, with the purpose of causing as much damage to civilians and infrastructure as possible,” Shoigu said.

The US military-biological programme in Ukraine involved the development of biological weapons components and the collection and export to the US of strains of dangerous microorganisms, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a meeting of defence ministers of SCO member states.

▫️”I would like to mention of the facts uncovered during the special operation regarding the implementation of the US military-biological programme in Ukraine. The documents we disclosed confirm that the Pentagon financed more than 30 Ukrainian bio-laboratories. The high-risk research was carried out secretly, with the participation and guidance of US specialists,” Sergei Shoigu said.

▫️As part of this programme, he said, “components of biological weapons were developed, techniques to destabilize the epidemiological situation were tested and collected and exported to the United States.

▫️”Such actions pose a direct threat to SCO countries,” the Russian Defence Minister said.

A large number of Ukrainian servicemen are voluntarily surrendering, Kiev is afraid of their testimonies, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a meeting of defence ministers of SCO member states.

▫️”Now a large number of Ukrainian servicemen, aware of the humane attitude of the Russian side towards prisoners of war, are voluntarily laying down their arms. However, the Kiev regime, in order to intimidate and prevent the surrender of others, as well as fearing their testimonies, is eliminating its own soldiers,” said Sergei Shoigu.

▫️As an example, he mentioned the strike on a detention centre in Elenovka, where Ukrainian POWs were held, including those from Azov battalion, terrorist organisation banned in Russia.

▫️”As a result, 50 people were killed and 73 wounded,” Sergei Shoigu said.

▫️He also revealed evidence of Ukraine’s violation of international norms for the treatment of prisoners of war. “Facts of torture and brutal murders of Russian POWs are posted on the internet by the executors of these inhumane acts themselves,” the Russian Defence Minister said.

Arms supplies to Ukraine by the USA and its allies are multiplying the number of human casualties and prolonging the military conflict in that country, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a meeting of defence ministers of SCO member states.

▫️”The United States and its allies keep pumping weapons into Ukraine, which increases the number of casualties and prolongs the conflict,” Sergei Shoigu said.

▫️Noting that the pressure on Russia’s partners to isolate it also continues, he thanked his colleagues “for their principled position and support”.

▫️”The independent course taken by the SCO member states in addressing regional and global security challenges is an example for the whole world,” the Russian Defence Minister said.

The United States is trying to split the established security architecture in Southeast Asia to ensure its global hegemony, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a meeting of defence ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation member states.

▫️”As far as the southern flank of our Organization – Southeast Asia – is concerned, there is also a complex set of complex interstate contradictions and hotbeds of tension with a hard-to-predict scenario of events. Washington is attempting to fracture the regional security architecture to ensure global hegemony,” Shoigu said.

▫️To this end, he noted, politico-military blocs are being created, such as: QUAD and AUKUS.

▫️Countries in the region are engaged in cooperation with NATO and a front is formed to deter China.

▫️”The states in the region are engaged in cooperation with NATO. Similar to Europe, a front is being formed to deter China. The so-called Taiwan problem is being deliberately aggravated, and territorial disputes in the South China Sea and East China Sea are being fuelled,” said Sergei Shoigu.

▫️According to him, “security in this region can only be ensured through joint efforts taking into account the interests of all states, with ASEAN and other multilateral cooperation mechanisms playing a central role.”

Russia is raising the combat readiness of its bases in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan as well as other crisis response forces amid the situation in Afghanistan, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a meeting of military heads of SCO member states.

▫️”For our part, we are increasing the combat readiness of Russian military bases in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan as well as other crisis response forces,” Sergei Shoigu said.

▫️According to Shoigu, “the situation in Afghanistan, where international terrorist organisations such as ISIS and al-Qaeda (banned in the Russian Federation) are on the rise, remains a serious challenge to security in Central Asia.

▫️Against this backdrop, there is a worsening socioeconomic situation, a growing ideology of religious radicalism, drug trafficking and cross-border crime,” said the Russian Defence Minister.

▫️He said Russia welcomes all international initiatives towards an Afghan settlement and, at the same time, takes measures to ensure security in the Central Asian region.

▫️Sergei Shoigu recalled the first meeting of Central Asian and Russian defence ministers in Moscow in June, which discussed the situation in Afghanistan and ways to stabilize it.

▫️”We believe,” Shoigu said, “such meetings would be useful, including for increasing coordination between our defence ministries. Especially since Afghanistan is SCO observer state.

Peace Mission 2023 joint anti-terrorist exercise of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation countries will be held in Russia, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said.

▫️”We assign an important role to the training of troops. Next year, we will hold Peaceful Mission 2023 joint military anti-terrorist command post exercise of SCO countries,” Sergei Shoigu said, speaking at a meeting of defence ministers of SCO member states.

▫️He also recalled that this autumn “a series of CSTO maneuvers will take place in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has proposed increasing the military capabilities of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, in particular through information exchange mechanisms in the military security sphere.

▫️”Increase the effectiveness of SCO’s military capabilities. Activate and give practical substance to the work of the expert working group under the SCO Council of Defence Ministers. At the meeting of SCO defence ministers, Sergei Shoigu said, talking about the priorities of coalition security, “We will instruct the working group to prepare proposals on the future cooperation of our countries’ defence ministries.

▫️Such areas, he said, could include “countering unmanned aerial vehicles, information and biological security”.

▫️Russian Defence Minister also spoke about the need to improve troop training and the practice of joint exercises, to exchange best practices and to develop new ways of countering illegal armed groups.

▫️The Russian Federation has prepared a draft agreement on operational exchange of information between the defence ministries of the SCO member states.

▫️Noting that maintaining peace and security remains a key priority for SCO, he also cited the development of a military security information exchange mechanism within SCO framework as one of its key tasks.

▫️”In order to establish the legal basis for such cooperation we have developed a draft Agreement on arrangement of rapid exchange of information between defence ministries of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation member states and its protection. We will send it to you for review in the near future,” Sergei Shoigu said.

▫️He expressed confidence that the results of today’s meeting will serve as a solid foundation for further progressive development of Shanghai Cooperation Organization and maintaining stability and security in its area of responsibility.