Russia Claims ASEAN Countries Interested in New Eurasian Security Proposal

MOSCOW – Countries ASEAN have expressed interest in Russia’s idea of ​​forming a new security architecture in Eurasia, as they understand that the West is pushing for a narrower format within ASEAN to contain China and Russia.

This was revealed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a press conference after the ASEAN Summit on Saturday (27/7/2024).

“The West is still pushing for a narrower format with a clear goal, they do not hide it — to contain China and Russia. Our ASEAN partners understand this very well and have shown interest in the President’s initiative. [Rusia] [Vladimir] Putin, which I have already mentioned, about the indivisible and equal Eurasian security system,” Lavrov said at a press conference after the Russia-ASEAN meeting and the East Asia Summit ministerial meeting in Laos, Sputnik reported.

The Russian foreign minister noted that the talks touched on the need to create a single indivisible security system open to all countries on the Eurasian continent, with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Eurasian Economic Union being good examples of such efforts.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) consists of ten Southeast Asian countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. East Timor will soon become the eleventh ASEAN country.

Russia is concerned about plans by the United States and South Korea to carry out joint nuclear planning, Minister Lavrov said.

“Another worrying aspect is that the United States has recently concluded an agreement with South Korea on joint nuclear planning,” Lavrov told a news conference. He added that “so far, we cannot even get an explanation of what this means.” [perjanjian] this, but we have no doubt that it causes additional anxiety.”

Lavrov said Russia is trying to ensure that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has full control over AUKUS activities on the issue of the distribution of nuclear weapons components in the Asia-Pacific region.

“The first step was taken when the AUKUS bloc was formed – the US, UK and Australia – a project to build nuclear-powered submarines,” Lavrov said.

He said the topic was very risky and required constant full control by the IAEA, which AUKUS members were not yet fully prepared for, but we were also trying to ensure that the Atomic Energy Agency used its powers to the fullest, so that there was full transparency.