MOSCOW

The West incited and is deliberately hindering the resolution of the conflict in Ukraine, Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, the minister argued that the West is using neo-Nazi ideology in Ukraine to instigate nationalism in its most extreme forms to divide Russians and Ukrainians, united by centuries of common history.

"I would like to repeat again, it was the West that prepared and provoked the Ukrainian crisis, and now it is purposefully delaying it," he said. Russia launched its "special military operation" in Ukraine in February 2022.

As for the situation on the CIS borders, Belousov described it as "tense" and "unstable."

"Amid global instability and increased tension along the perimeter of the external borders of the CIS, we attach special importance to improving mechanisms for joint counteraction to both new and traditional challenges and threats. This is one of our priorities," he stressed.

Pointing out the importance of updating the security architecture in Eurasia, Belousov invited other participants to discuss the establishment of a security system that will cover all Eurasian countries.

The CIS is an international organization for cooperation between some states that were formerly part of the Soviet Union.