Russia says West seeks to spread ‘conflict potential’ to Asia-Pacific region

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Russia on Monday accused the West of seeking to spread the “conflict potential” to the Asia-Pacific region.

“Having provoked an acute crisis in Europe, the West is seeking to spread conflict potential to the Asia-Pacific region, and in several directions,” Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu said in a speech at the 10th Xiangshan Security Forum in the Chinese capital Beijing, according to state news agency TASS.

Expressing that there are active attempts to deploy “NATO’s power potential” in the region, Shoygu said the concept of “indivisibility of security of the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific region” used by the West is aimed at justifying the emergence of NATO forces and infrastructure in Asia.

Shoygu further said that this approach is different from the “indivisible security” principle promoted by Russia and China, which he said does not allow Moscow and Beijing to ensure their security “at the expense of the security of others.”

“NATO is covering up the buildup of military force in the Asia-Pacific region with an ostentatious desire for dialogue, imposing alliances and lines of operational interaction on partners,” Shoygu said.

He said that Washington’s exchange of information on missile launches with South Korea and Japan will be used in the interests of the US to contain Russia and China.

Shoygu also said that Russia considers attempts to replace regional security mechanisms tied to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with “closed bloc structures of the Indo-Pacific orientation” as unacceptable, adding that this undermines the central role of ASEAN.

“It is important to note that interaction within the framework of AUKUS allows the participating countries not only to modernize their armed forces in terms of conventional weapons but also to develop their nuclear component, which is detrimental to the nuclear non-proliferation regime in the Asia-Pacific region,” Shoygu added.

AUKUS is a security partnership for the Indo-Pacific region, under which the US and the UK will assist Australia in acquiring nuclear-powered submarines.