US trying to maintain dominance at ‘any cost’ – Putin

The US will stop at nothing to secure its dominant position in the international arena, Russian President Vladimir Putin said as he took part in the launch of the nation’s largest-ever maritime drills on Tuesday. Moscow must be ready for any developments amid the rising geopolitical tensions and pay special attention to strengthening ties with friendly states, he added.

The exercise, called Ocean-2024, is scheduled to be held between September 10 and 16 and involves a military contingent from China. Four vessels and 15 aircraft from the People’s Liberation Army are taking part in the effort, according to Admiral Aleksandr Moiseev, Acting Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy.

Enhancing military cooperation with friendly nations has become all the more important for Russia as the US is building up its military presence on multiple fronts, Putin told a video conference attended by Defense Minister Andrey Belousov and the Russian Navy’s top commanders.

“We can see that the United States is doing everything to hold on to its global military and political dominance, no matter the cost, by utilizing Ukraine and seeking to inflict a strategic defeat on our country,” the Russian leader said.

Washington is also sending more forces to Europe, the Arctic and the Pacific under the pretext of “the alleged Russian threat and the China containment policy,” the president said.

“The US and its allies have made no secret of their plans to deploy intermediate and shorter-range missiles in the so-called forward deployment areas” in the Western Pacific, including in some nations and islands in the region, Putin said.

Washington is “seeking to provoke” a new arms race, with no regard for the security of its allies in Europe and Asia, the Russian leader argued. US activity “would upend the existing security architecture in Asia-Pacific with a disruptive effect on the balance of power there,” he said.

This policy risks sparking a “dangerous crisis in Europe, as well as in the Asia-Pacific Region,” Putin warned. Russia should be ready for any potential developments under such circumstances, the president said as he oversaw the start of the exercises aimed at testing the combat readiness and interoperability of the various parts of the Russian Navy and Air Force.

The Russian Armed Forces should “reliably defend” both the nation’s sovereignty and interests as well as be able to fend off any potential aggression, Putin said.

The US and other Western nations have been designating Russia and China as their largest security threats for quite some time. Last week, the American and British spy chiefs named those two nations to be the main challenges to the status quo in a joint op-ed published by the Financial Times.

In late August, Belousov also named the US strive for dominance to be at the root of a major security crisis. The ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kiev is essentially a clash between Russia and the West, the minister said, adding that the US and its allies were clinging to global domination and were not ready to accept the multipolar world order.

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