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Speaking at an annual security conference, Shoigu accused
Washington of seeking worldwide military and political
dominance. He reiterated Moscow's line that the West
orchestrates "color revolutions" to unseat rulers it dislikes.
"Ukraine is the biggest tragedy in the chain of color
revolutions. The United States and its allies have crossed all
possible lines in their drive bring Kiev into their orbit. That
could not have failed to trigger our reaction," Shoigu said in
Moscow.
Russian annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine last March
and separatist unrest then spread to eastern, Russian-speaking
regions of the country.
Fighting between Kiev's troops and pro-Russian rebels there has
killed more than 6,000 people. The West says Moscow has sent
serving Russian troops to help the rebels as well as arms,
training and intelligence.
Moscow denies direct military involvement in spite of mounting
evidence on the ground. Shoigu blamed the fighting on Kiev and
its drive to integrate with the West.
"How many more casualties are needed to force Ukrainians living
in the east to feel 'Europeans'?" he said.
He dismissed Western criticism that Russia was forcibly remaking
European borders, pointing to Western military involvement in
Serbia, Iraq and Libya.
"Those vehement critics of Russian actions in Crimea surely have
no moral right to accuse us of violating international law," he
said.
Shoigu said Moscow saw the development of the U.S.-led
anti-missile shield in Europe as a threat to its strategic
nuclear deterrent capability, and was taking measures to
counteract it.
(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; editing by Andrew Roche)
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