BEIJING, October 30. /TASS/. The West is using Ukraine as a battering ram to inflict "strategic defeat" on Russia after Moscow responded to NATO's Eastward expansion led by the United States, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said at the 10th Xiangshan Security Forum.

"Despite Russia’s legitimate rights to ensure its security, the White House has pursued the Eastward expansion of the NATO bloc it controls. These aggressive actions compelled us to respond. In response, the West publicly set a course towards inflicting 'strategic defeat' for Russia in the hybrid war unleashed against us. Ukraine was cynically chosen as a battering ram, with the role of only an expendable supply assigned to it," he said.

According to him, the US, "having completely subjugated Western countries, focused their military-political resources on maintaining elusive global dominance by any means."