Aug. 24 (EIRNS)—Defense ministers of the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) met in Tashkent, Uzbekistan today and were addressed by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. At the outset, Shoigu stated that the SCO was becoming a new center of international power, and forcefully asserted that “the conflict in Ukraine is just another pretext … to strategically deplete Russia to eliminate rivalry and warn other states pursuing an independent foreign policy.”