BEIJING, March 3. /TASS/. Igor Morgulov, the Russian ambassador to China, said in an interview with China Central Television, which was aired on Friday, that member countries of the North Atlantic Alliance are planning to build up their potential in the Asia-Pacific region and thereby undermine the region’s existing stable security infrastructure.
"The North Atlantic Alliance announced last year that its area of responsibility is now the entire world. NATO is essentially working to undermine the stable security system in the Asia-Pacific region, offering a new one in its place, which is based on NATO and similar bloc-based vehicles," he said.
The diplomat noted that one such vehicle - AUKUS, a trilateral military partnership among Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States - has already appeared on the scene.
"Formally, it has been framed as an effort to create a nuclear submarine fleet for Australia, but the ultimate goal is to give NATO potential a foothold in the region," Morgulov said. "We know from our own experience that nothing good will come out of NATO's presence. The alliance is not a defense bloc, but a military bloc, which will only serve to undermine peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.".