Vladimir Putin says risk of conflict in world and region is high

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia was aware of Ukrainian plans to use a "dirty bomb", echoing an unsubstantiated allegation repeatedly made by Moscow in recent days.

Speaking at a meeting with the intelligence chiefs of several former Soviet countries, Putin said that the risk of conflict in the world and region was high, and that security should be heightened around key infrastructure sites.

Putin said that Ukraine's territory has been turned into "a testing ground for military biological experiments."

Speaking via videoconference at a meeting with heads of security services of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Putin said Ukraine was turned into "a tool of the US policy" used in an attempt to preserve global domination.

The world is becoming multipolar, but "some participants" are trying to preserve their hegemony at any price, engaging a wide range of measures, from breaking legal mechanisms of strategic stability to introducing against opposers illegal unilateral sanctions, and even "direct sabotage," he said.

"I am referring to the organization of explosions on the international gas pipelines of the Nord Stream.

"We are talking about the destruction of the pan-European energy infrastructure. And this is done despite the fact that such, if I may say so, methods, of course, cause enormous damage to the European economy, significantly worsen the living conditions of millions of people. And, in fact, they keep quiet about who did it, who is interested in it," he stressed.

Putin also said "some countries" have been using blackmail, pressure, and intimidation on the CIS space for a long time, and the same states do not stop their efforts to organize color revolutions and to use interethnic contradictions to fuel armed conflicts, directly threatening all CIS members.

"What they are trying to achieve -- those who are doing it -- we see on the example of Ukraine, has become a tool of American foreign policy.

"The country has actually lost its sovereignty and is directly controlled by the US, which uses it as a battering ram against Russia, against our Union State with the Republic of Belarus, and against the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) and the CIS as a whole.

"The Ukrainian territory has been turned into a testing ground for military biological experiments, and now they are pumping up weapons, including heavy ones, ignoring the statements of the Kyiv regime about the desire to get nuclear weapons although it was said publicly by the Kyiv authorities," he said, adding that recent reports about Ukraine's plans to use "a dirty bomb" also raise concerns.

Another threat is Ukraine's black market of weapons, Putin said, noting that international criminal groups take part in its smuggling.

"It's not just about small arms. There are still risks of getting into the hands of criminals more powerful means of destruction, including portable anti-aircraft missile systems, high-precision weapons," he warned.

Meanwhile, the threat from terror groups, including Daesh/ISIS and Al Qaeda remains high and the concentration of militant groups in Afghanistan near the CIS borders carries a potential risk of invasion in this region, he stressed.

Putin pointed out that the CIS countries never faced such challenges and currently their common task is to protect the people, strengthen stability in the CIS space, and continue developing integration and cooperation.

"Today, it is important to mobilize all the forces and means entrusted to you to solve these tasks," he said.

Putin said the joint counteraction to attempts of interference in the internal affairs of the CIS states is a "priority."

"To do this -- to counter this -- it is necessary to more actively uncover and stop the work of foreign special services aimed at destabilizing the situation in each individual CIS member state," he said.

He also urged the heads of the security services to increase security measures, citing the blast on the bridge connecting Russia and Crimea and the attempt on Russia's Kursk nuclear power plant.

"Such tasks as the fight against cybercrime, drug trafficking, the elimination of cross-border criminal communities, and, of course, the development of cooperation in the protection of state borders remain relevant," he said.

Putin urged the CIS members to intensify the fight against terrorism and increase the exchange of intelligence, noting that the security cooperation between the CIS countries will serve the common cause of strengthening security and increase the effectiveness of joint actions of special services to neutralize common threats.