Warning of global bullying
Russia clearing path for ‘tyrants, turmoil’
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine offers a preview of a world where nuclear-armed countries could threaten other nations and said Beijing, like Moscow, seeks a world where might makes right.
Austin made the remarks at the annual Halifax International Security Forum, which attracts defence and security officials from Western democracies.
“Russia’s invasion offers a preview of a possible world of tyranny and turmoil that none of us would want to live in. And it’s an invitation to an increasingly insecure world haunted by the shadow of nuclear proliferation,” Austin said in a speech.
“(Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s fellow autocrats are watching. And they could well conclude that getting nuclear weapons would give them a hunting licence of their own. And that could drive a dangerous spiral of nuclear proliferation.”
Austin dismissed Putin’s claims that “modern Ukraine was entirely created by Russia”, calling it a vision of “a world in which autocrats decide which countries are real and which countries can be snuffed out”.
He added that the war “shows the whole world the dangers of disorder. That’s the security challenge that we face. It’s urgent, and it’s historic. But we’re going to meet it. The basic principles of democracy are under siege around the world.”
CIA Director Bill Burns recently met with his Russian intelligence counterpart to warn of consequences if Russia were to deploy a nuclear weapon in Ukraine.
Austin said nuclear weapons need to be responsibly controlled, and not used to threaten the world.
“Ukraine faces a harsh winter. And as Russia’s position on the battlefield erodes, Putin may resort again to profoundly irresponsible nuclear sabre-rattling,” he said
Austin also compared Russia to China, saying Beijing is trying to refashion both the region and the international system to suit its authoritarian preferences. He noted China’s increasing military activities in the Taiwan Strait.
“Beijing, like Moscow, seeks a world where might makes right, where disputes are resolved by force, and where autocrats can stamp out the flame of freedom,” he said.
Austin called Putin’s invasion the worst crisis in security since the end of the Second World War and said the outcome “will help determine the course of global security in this young century,” Austin said.
Austin said the deadly missile explosion in Poland last week was a consequence of Putin’s “war of choice” against Ukraine. Two workers were killed when a projectile hit a grain-drying facility close to Poland’s border with Ukraine.