Russia Says NATO Militarization Fuels Illegal Trade in Western Weapons

According to Yulia Zhdanova, head of the Russian delegation to the Vienna talks on military security and arms control, both the commander of Ukraine's armed forces and the head of its national intelligence services play key roles in these gray schemes.

Vienna, October 14. /TASS/. Yulia Zhdanova, the head of the Russian delegation to the Vienna talks on military security and arms control, said NATO's policy of militarization and military aid to Kiev had led to an unprecedented and uncontrolled increase in the illegal Western arms trade.

"The militarization of the NATO bloc and the deployment of weapons to Ukraine has already led to an unprecedented and uncontrolled illegal trade in Western arms and military equipment, perhaps unprecedented in the entire history of wars. The illegal Kiev regime, which is closely monitored by the Europeans and supported by the European Union, has given the key role of illegal arms trafficking by these organized criminal groups to Ukraine and the international community. He said at the meeting of the Security Forums of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe: Armed Forces Command Ukraine and the leadership of the national intelligence services, his statement was provided to Tas.

About 35 million unregistered weapons of various types are circulating throughout the EU, Zhdanova said, quoting German experts at a June seminar on the problem of illegal arms proliferation from Ukraine in EU countries.