Ukraine is a definite laboratory where Russia is testing new types of weapons, including cyber weapons.
Such a statement was delivered by the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Robert Karem during the 11th Kyiv Security Forum in Kyiv.
"American strategy and politics recognize the reality that has been recognized for years before - Russia's revisionist policy is jeopardizing the US and Europe as well as international law, economy, fundamental principles of national security and sovereignty," he said.
According to him, in recent years, this threat has crystallized because of the Kremlin's intervention in democratic systems: "These attempts are not new, but the tools that the Kremlin uses may already be in laptops and gadgets. And it's all over the world. And this is the echo of the Cold War and misinformation." In particular, R. Karem has pointed out that the Russian military carried out the "Petya" cyberattack - it was a threat to the critical security of infrastructure around the world.
At the same time, the Kremlin's provocative rhetoric is supported by significant capital investments in strengthening the Russian military machine. Against this background, the deputy minister of defense pointed out that during exercises "West 2017", the Russian Federation demonstrated that it could deploy its cyber systems together with military means.
Russia is trying to rewrite the world order and constantly violates international law and treaties, and also uses its veto in the UN Security Council. Russia has intervened in the situation in Syria, which gives Putin a blow to an international coalition that seeks to fight Islamic State and does not resolve the Syrian conflict. In addition, Russia itself uses chemical weapons, which witnessed the incident in Salisbury," R.Karem said.
"Ukraine has become a target for many of these threats from Russia and is being used as a test laboratory for new types of weapons and cyber-weapons," the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense said.
Along with the military means against Ukraine, Russia also uses energy, indicating this was a reduction in the flow of gas through Ukraine last month. The North Stream 2 project are also directed against Ukraine. "The United States opposes this project, which is against the interests of Ukraine and global security," R. Karem emphasized in this regards.
He stressed that the threat from Russia should be reacted collectively. "Russia will be as strong as we will allow it to be. So collective action is the key to success in counteracting this threat," he stressed.
For reference:
The annual international event Kyiv Security Forum was launched by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Foundation Open Ukraine in 2007 as a platform for high-level discussions on the current issues in Europe and the Black Sea region. The Forum aims at increasing security cooperation between the EU and the Black Sea region, raising awareness about regional developments among key regional players, promoting the role of independent and non-governmental actors in setting the security agenda in Europe.
The event is being held with the support of NATO Information and Documentation Center in Ukraine, the German Marshall Fund, The Victor Pinchuk Foundation, The Royal Institute of International Relations, Chatham House (UK), and The Regional Representative Office of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Ukraine.
-tmb-265x176.jpeg)
