MOSCOW. April 16 (Interfax-AVN) - Most crises in the present-day world can be resolved politically and diplomatically, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Thursday.
"We are convinced that most contemporary crises can be settled with political-diplomatic methods. A case in point is the elimination of chemical weapon in Syria or agreements over Iran's nuclear program," Shoigu told a fourth international security conference in Moscow on Thursday.
At present there is a particular demand for a professional and frank dialogue among military specialists who would exchange their views constructively and on par with one another, on how to stop an armed standoff in the hottest spots of our planet, he said.
"We believe that at the heart of it should be the military-political interests of regional actors and not the ambitions of those who see the world merely through the prism of their own exceptionalism," the minister said.
"We are living at a pivotal moment of history. It is we who need to set the parameters of the world order. Of course, one may continue to exist amidst confrontation, the dictate of the force, disregard for international law and national interests of the states," Shoigu said.
But Russia is offering a different way, that of diverse cooperation based on the principle of equal and indivisible security, he said. "We need to find solutions to complex international security problems, which would rely on the balance of interests and compromise," Shoigu said.
These words are propped up by solid initiatives whose implementation would allow to relieve tensions and bolster global and regional security, he said.
A way out of the situation around the European missile defense system lies in Russian President Vladimir Putin's ideas to create a non-strategic missile defense for Europe, the minister said.
Russia has proposed to create an economically feasible missile defense system, whose scale, structure and capabilities would be commensurate to the risks facing Europe, he recalled.
"Another example is Asia-Pacific security. In 2013 Russia, along with China and Brunei, offered a plan of measures to form new security architecture there," Shoigu said.