Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said that the Iranian-Israeli confrontation has sharply worsened the situation in the Middle East, TASS reported.
"The situation in the Middle East has sharply worsened. First of all, this is connected with the Iranian-Israeli confrontation. And with the strikes by Israel and the United States on Iranian military facilities and infrastructure. Such attacks are a gross violation of the UN Charter and the norms of international law," Belousov said, speaking at a meeting of the heads of military departments of the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
"The current military and political situation in the world remains complex and tends to deteriorate. Geopolitical contradictions are intensifying. The fundamental foundations of strategic stability are being destroyed. The conflict potential has increased dangerously. Against this background, the role of international institutions called upon to guarantee stability in the world has fallen to an unacceptable level," Belousov pointed out.
The Russian Defense Minister noted that these phenomena are a consequence of the "destructive course of the collective West to preserve its global dominance".
"Numerous foci of instability are being created in the world. Including in the region of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and along its perimeter," Belousov said.
The Russian Defense Minister also noted that in the Asia-Pacific region "the actions of individual states to create closed, bloc structures with an anti-Chinese and anti-Russian orientation have a destructive impact on stability". As examples of such organizations, Belousov cited the trilateral defense alliance AUKUS (Australia, Great Britain, USA) and the "Triple Alliance" (USA, Republic of Korea, Japan).