DHAKA, September 7. /TASS/. Russia will join forces with partners to protect the Asia-Pacific region from the diktat of countries that want to issue orders for others, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said following talks with Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abul Kalam Abdul Momen.
"We will work with our partners in the region with the view of not allowing diktat here from countries that want to be guided only by their own interests and order others what they can and cannot do," the minister said when asked about US attempts to establish such organizations in the Asia-Pacific and Southeast Asia as QUAD (Australia, India, Japan and the US) and AUKUS (the security alliance of Australia, the UK and the US).
"The results of the East Asia summit in Jakarta reaffirmed that such an obsessive, pushy policy [of the West] to promote its own geopolitical interests is not to everyone's liking," Lavrov said.
"The summit declaration, which was approved unanimously, managed to defend the basic principles of an ASEAN-centric, inclusive, equitable architecture. But this does not mean that these attempts will stop. On the contrary, we expect them to intensify, and we should be ready for it," the minister stated.
Deterrence and isolation
Lavrov noted that some of the main goals pursued by the US are to contain China and isolate Russia in the region.
"If we analyze everything that the Americans and their allies are doing to promote their interests under the slogans of the so-called Indo-Pacific Strategy, we will understand that, of course, one of its main objectives is the containment of China and the isolation of Russia in the region, but it is part of an absolutely global process of Washington-led expansion of NATO," he said.
"All this is aimed at undermining the security architecture that has been built over decades through ASEAN-initiated formats. These formats included the US, other Western countries, China, the Russian Federation and India on an equal footing. Decisions were taken by consensus, which is exactly what Washington and its satellites are not satisfied with," the minister said.