Shoigu says Russia and its allies should step up military exercises in Asia

ASTANA (Reuters) – Russia and its allies in Asia should expand their joint military exercises as they face a direct threat from attempts by the United States to expand its security influence in the region, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Friday.

He was speaking at a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a security group that includes Russia, India, China, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

“I believe all present share the view that the deployment of military infrastructure in the region by the United States and its allies is unacceptable,” Shoigu said.

“Such intentions should be considered a direct threat to stability in SCO space.”

SCO member states should expand the scope and geography of their military exercises, he said at the meeting in the Kazakh capital Astana.

His speech emphasized Russia’s intention to strengthen military ties with partners in Asia and oppose any erosion of its influence there, despite the intense demands placed on its military as a result of the war that the country has been in Ukraine for more than two years.

At home, Shoigu’s position is under greater scrutiny than usual following the arrest of one of his deputies this week in connection with a bribery scandal, a development that threatens to weaken him politically.

In his speech, he accused the US-led QUAD and AUKUS blocs of trying to reshape the security structure in the Pacific as they saw fit, and said there was increasing pressure on China over Taiwan.

Shoigu said the biggest threat in Central Asia came from “radical terrorist groups in Afghanistan.” He said the United States is working to regain the influence in the region it lost after withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan in 2021.

Islamic State militants have claimed responsibility for killing more than 140 people at a concert hall near Moscow last month, and the United States said it was the group’s Afghan network that planned the attack. Shoigu repeated Russia’s claim that Ukraine was behind it, a claim that Kiev has denied and which Washington says is nonsense.

In Ukraine, Shoigu said foreign advisers helped Kiev prepare acts of sabotage on Russian territory, and that Ukraine used Western weapons to attack Russian civilian infrastructure. He has provided no evidence to support his claims.

(Reporting by Reuters, Writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Andrew Osborn)