US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned on Saturday that Russia’s attack on Ukraine presents a picture of a world where countries with nuclear weapons can threaten other countries and said Beijing, like Moscow, wants a world that can change.
Austin made the comments at the annual Halifax International Security Forum, which attracts security and defense officials from Western democracies.
“Russia’s attack paints a picture of a potentially violent and chaotic world that none of us wants to live in. And it’s a call to action for an increasingly insecure world facing the threat of nuclear proliferation,” Austin said in a speech.
“Because Putin’s fellow rulers see it. And they may think that getting nuclear weapons will give them their own license to hunt. And that could lead to a dangerous proliferation of nuclear weapons.”
Austin criticized Putin’s statement that “modern Ukraine was created by Russia,” and said this is a vision of “a world where dictators choose between countries that are real and countries that can be destroyed.”
He also said that the war “shows all over the world the danger of chaos. That is the security problem we face. It’s fast, and it’s history.
But we will face it. … The basic principles of democracy are under siege around the world,” he said.
Nuclear threat ‘Armageddon’
US President Joe Biden last month announced that the threat of nuclear “Armageddon” is at the highest level since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis; Russian officials have used nuclear weapons after facing major setbacks in the nine-month-long invasion of Ukraine.
Although US officials have for months warned against the prospect of Russia using weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine in the face of military obstacles, Biden administration officials have repeatedly said that nothing has changed in US intelligence analysis to indicate that Putin has plans to use it. use of nuclear weapons. equipment.
CIA director Bill Burns recently met with a Russian intelligence ally to warn of the consequences if Russia were to send nuclear weapons to Ukraine.
Austin said nuclear weapons should be managed properly, not used to threaten the world.
“Ukraine is facing a very cold winter. And as Russia’s military presence deteriorates, Mr. Putin may start using nuclear weapons recklessly,” he said.
Austin also compared Russia to China, saying that Beijing is trying to reshape the region and the international system to suit its interests. He also noted the increase in Chinese military activity in the Taiwan Strait.
“Beijing, like Moscow, wants a country that can fix it, where conflicts are resolved aggressively, and where the government can put out the fires of freedom,” he said.
‘The path to global security’
Austin called Putin’s attack the biggest security threat since the end of World War II and said its results “will determine the direction of global security for decades to come,” Austin said.
Austin said this week’s deadly bombings in Poland were the result of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “war of choice” against Ukraine. “The tragic and disturbing explosions in Poland this week reminded the whole world of the recklessness of Putin’s war,” Austin said.
On Tuesday, two workers were killed when a projectile hit a grain drying facility near the Polish-Ukrainian border. While the source of the missile is being investigated, NATO officials have said they suspect it was fired from a Ukrainian missile battery.
Polish, NATO and United States officials have accused Russia of killing those people in any case, saying that the Ukrainian missile would not have blown up the country if it had not been forced to defend itself against Russia’s major terrorist attacks that day.
Russian officials have framed the conflict as a confrontation with NATO – even though Ukraine is not a NATO member despite receiving aid from NATO member states.
Austin said NATO is a defense alliance and does not threaten Russia.
“Make no mistake: we will not be drawn into Putin’s war of choice. But we will stand by Ukraine as it struggles to defend itself. And we will defend every inch of NATO territory,” said Austin.
A Polish investigation into the location and nature of the explosion was launched with the help of US and Ukrainian investigators who joined the investigation on Friday.
Andriy Yermak, who is the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, in an interview at the event, said: “It is not good to say that it is a Ukrainian rocket, or a Russian rocket, before the investigation is completed.”
In its 14th year, approximately 300 people gather each year for the Halifax International Security Forum held at Halifax’s Westin Hotel, where approximately 13 Ukrainian refugees work.
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