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Asia-Pacific Region ready to create new security architecture, Sergei Lavrov said

"It is high time to pass from words to deeds,” Russian Foreign Minister claimed

PHNOM PENH, November 20 (Itar-Tass) — The time is ripe for the Asia-Pacific Region to build a new security architecture – non-aligned and undivided, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the 7th East Asia Summit on Tuesday.

“The East Asia summits for us are a core element of an interstate interaction system that is being formed in the Asia-Pacific Region. Today it is the only mechanism of its kind for high level dialogue on strategic issues of the region’s development,” he said.

“A powerful market that economies of the Asia-Pacific Region have created over the past decades secured the region’s leading position in sustaining the global growth. Respectively, the rating of the Asia-Pacific Region in the global politics increased and its role in making contours of a new polycentric global system strengthened,” Lavrov said.

However, security situation in the region still does not meet the demands of the time and the scale of challenges and threats, he said.

“The lack of international legal instruments is felt. The time is ripe for the region to develop a new architecture – equal, non-aligned and transparent based on the principles of undivided security, adherence to the international law and the principles of collective security and transparency,” he said. “Without this we will be unable to tap a strong potential of regional integration.”

Moscow believes that the main burden to fulfil this task should be shouldered on the mechanism of the East Asia summits.

Lavrov recalled that at the last year’s summit “Russia called for not delaying practical steps towards building a new regional security architecture.”

“Latest developments in the Asia-Pacific Region prove correctness of this approach. It is high time to pass from words to deeds,” he said.

“Together with our Chinese and Bruneian partners we started consultations to develop framework principles for strengthening security and deepening cooperation in the Asia-Pacific Region,” the minister said. “Confirming the central role of the Association of South-East Asian Nations in the processes of regional integration we agreed that the provisions of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in South-East Asia of 1976 (Bali Treaty) and the 2011 Declaration of the East Asia Summit on the Principles for Mutually Beneficial Relations will serve as a basis for such document,” he said.

“We proceed from the assumption that framework principles should take into consideration concerns and interests of all states of the Asia-Pacific Region without exception. We invite partners to take an active part in this work,” Lavrov said.