MOSCOW, June 16. /TASS/. Russian Deputy Defense Minister and Chairman of the Armed Forces’ Main Military-Political Directorate Andrei Kartapolov has outlined Russia’s stance on security issues in the Asia-Pacific Region, the Defense Ministry reported.
Kartapolov spoke via a video link-up at the eighth meeting of defense chiefs of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its Dialogue Partners (ADMM-Plus) on Wednesday.
"In his speech, Col. Gen. Andrei Kartapolov outlined Russian approaches on key security issues in the Asia-Pacific Region," the ministry stated.
After the meeting, the delegations’ chiefs adopted a joint statement of the defense ministers of ASEAN member-states and Dialogue Partners aimed at further enhancing multilateral defense cooperation.
The ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) is a mechanism of cooperation between the defense ministries of 10 Southeast Asian countries (ASEAN) and the so-called Dialogue Partners (Australia, India, China, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia, the United States, and Japan) set up in April 2010 at Vietnam’s initiative.
Its objective is to create favorable conditions for conducting an open and constructive dialogue between ASEAN and its key partners on defense and security issues, contributing to the deepening of trust and mutual understanding in the region, and establishing practical interaction between the military departments of the member-states.
Under the umbrella of the ADMM-Plus, there are seven Experts Working Groups (EWGs), namely, Humanitarian Mine Action, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HA/DR), Maritime Security, Military Medicine, Counter Terrorism, Peacekeeping Operations (PKO), and Cyber Security.