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Discord stirred up within NATO after AUKUS establishment - Russian diplomat

According to Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, the Western world’s ideology is reduced to thee establishment of blocs that would be in permanent confrontation with someone

MOSCOW, November 7. /TASS/. The establishment of a new trilateral military partnership involving the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia (AUKUS) has stirred up discord within NATO both conceptually and in terms of technology, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sunday.

"What is it? Shared visions, solidarity? By doing it, they have stirred up huge discord within the NATO family. Not only conceptually but also in terms of technology because no one, even inside the NATO family, has understood anything about the submarines that are to protect Australia. Who from and why? What kind of fuel are they going to use and what about the IAEA founding documents?," she said in an interview with the Voskresky Vecher (Sunday Evening) with Vladimir Solovyov on the Rpssiya-1 television channel.

"France, with all its technological and economic projects, has been driven out of there. This is what they call shared vision," she noted.

According to Zakharova, the Western world’s ideology is reduced to thee establishment of blocs that would be in permanent confrontation with someone. "Our country’s ideology is cooperation on an equal basis to confront threats. See the difference: to be friends against someone or to be friends in the face of common problems," she added.

On September 15, Australia, the UK and the US announced a new strategic security pact dubbed AUKUS. Under the agreement, Australia plans to build at least eight US-designed nuclear-powered submarines and equip its forces with American-designed cruise missiles, among other things. Because of this deal, Canberra terminated a major defense contract with France, who blasted this decision as "a stab in the back" and recalled its ambassadors from Australia and the United States for consultations.