MOSCOW, June 28. /TASS/. Russia and member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will discuss strategic stability and the situation in the Asia-Pacific region, Secretary of Russia’s Security Council Nikolai Patrushev said via a video conference at consultations with the bloc’s high representatives for security policy on Monday.
"Today we will discuss the situation in the Asia-Pacific region in detail. We expect the agenda of our consultations to be subsequently broadened to include the concept-approved issues, in particular, the problems of strategic stability and the mechanisms of armaments and non-proliferation control," the Russian security chief said.
It will also be useful to discuss coordination of interaction among ASEAN specialized agencies and security services, Patrushev said.
The Russian security chief said he viewed the new format as a joint effort aimed at strengthening security in the region. "I am convinced that any contradictions and disagreements should remain outside its scope," the security chief said.
The secretary of Russia’s Security Council thanked the participants in the consultations for the work done to create a formal basis for a dialogue.
"We worked fruitfully with you on the concept of our mechanism," he pointed out.
The Russian security chief also praised the competence of the experts of reputable research institutions dealing with foreign policy and security issues.
"I know that fears were voiced about whether our consultations would overlap with the work of already existing dialogue formats, such as the ASEAN regional security forum, the bloc’s defense ministers meeting with partners and others. I am convinced that the experience and the level of the professional competence of our countries’ high representatives make it possible to look at the region’s problems from another angle and supplement existing interaction mechanisms, making them more efficient," Patrushev stressed.
All the ASEAN member states have a different structure of state power but everywhere the powers of the high representatives overseeing security issues make it possible both to control work in other formats and coordinate the agencies’ efforts for coping with the tasks set by the leadership of these states, the Russian security chief emphasized.
Consultations in the year of double jubilee
As the secretary of Russia’s Security Council pointed out, the current consultations are running in the year of the double jubilee: 30 years since Russia and the association established their relations and 25 years since Russia and ASEAN launched full-scale dialogue partnership. Russia has been a dialogue partner of ASEAN since 1996 and this dialogue has been raised to the strategic level since 2018, Patrushev said.
"The heads of our countries have agreed to deepen foreign policy and security cooperation by stepping up visits and exchanges at the high level and hold events as part of various ASEAN forums," the Russian security chief said.
The exchange of opinions on security issues at the high level is both useful for understanding the essence of processes taking place in the contemporary world and necessary for the political leaders of the countries to make major decisions, Patrushev emphasized.