MOSCOW, September 5. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will attend the East Asia Summit (EAS) taking place in Jakarta on September 7, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated at a briefing.

"The Russian Foreign Minister will attend the eighteenth East Asia Summit in Jakarta on September 7," she said.

The diplomat pointed out that the Russian side considers the summit platform "an important element of the regional security architecture with the potential to develop practical cooperation in many directions." "During the event, we believe it is important to discuss the challenges the Asia-Pacific region is facing, in particular, we intend to draw attention to the risk of the military and political situation in the Asia-Pacific region being aggravated against the background of the West's realization of its plan to expand the geographical area of so-called NATO responsibility," she added.

"There is also a need for a substantive conversation about preserving the stability of the ASEAN-centric architecture, which is facing serious pressure from alternative bloc platforms," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman emphasized.

Besides, Zakharova noted that Moscow is "in favor of expanding broad comprehensive practical cooperation on the East Asia Summit platform." " This approach, without any hint of political opportunism, is the crux of all Russian proposals," she stated.

"As part of the program of his stay in Jakarta, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold a series of meetings with regional partners and representatives of multilateral associations," the diplomat said.

About the ASEAN Summit

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit, as well as related meetings involving representatives from invited countries and regions, will continue in Jakarta until September 7.

During the meetings, the parties will discuss integration and boosting cooperation in a number of areas, as well as various regional issues. According to local observers, the meeting may broach key issues such as the crisis in Myanmar and the situation around the disputed, from the point of view of some countries, waters in the South China Sea.

ASEAN partnership meetings with a number of countries will be held on the margins of the summit, tentatively on Wednesday and Thursday. Thus, Premier of the State Council of China Li Qiang, Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida, President of the Republic of Korea Yoon Suk Yeol, Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and others will visit Indonesia. Jakarta will host the East Asia Summit on September 7.