Patrushev Warns Russia Could Use ‘Forceful Methods of Coercion’ If Its Sovereignty Is Threatened

June 2, 2021 (EIRNS) —Speaking to the government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta after a videoconference meeting of Security Council Secretaries of SCO Member States, Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Russian Federation’s Security Council, warned that Russia was prepared to take both symmetric and asymmetric measures if its sovereignty and territorial integrity are threatened in any way.

Patrushev stated that the country’s revised national security strategy, which is on President Putin’s desk awaiting approval, means Moscow is now willing to use actual force and not just economic sanctions, according to a report in RT.

“The new version of the National Security Strategy emphasizes Russia’s desire to increase predictability, confidence, and security in the international sphere,” Patrushev explained. “At the same time, it notes the legitimacy of symmetric and asymmetric measures to suppress and prevent unfriendly actions that threaten the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia.” Patrushev also emphasized the importance of economic security: “An important condition for ensuring economic security is reliance on internal potential and independent solutions for problems faced by Russia while maintaining openness to mutually beneficial cooperation with other countries,” he explained, reporting he had recently had productive discussion with his American counterpart, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.