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New military blocs in Asia-Pacific trample established security achitecture — top brass

According to Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin, the new blocs that are being created, namely QUAD, AUKUS, the Asia-Pacific Quartet and other bloc mechanisms, will bring to the Asia-Pacific "new challenges and threats that Europe is facing today"

JAKARTA /Indonesia/, November 16. /TASS/. Attempts by a number of countries to form military blocs in the Asia-Pacific region are wreaking havoc on the sound security framework already in place there, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said.

"Unfortunately, despite the efforts of ASEAN states, we note a sharp increase in the potential for conflict in the Asia-Pacific region. We consider the main reason for this to be the line of Western states to undermine regional stability," he said at the 10th ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus in Jakarta. "The existing security architecture in the Asia-Pacific region has proven effective. Attempts to form military blocs here along the lines of NATO are torpedoing this system," he pointed out.

According to the senior defense official, the new blocs that are being created, namely QUAD, AUKUS, the Asia-Pacific Quartet and other bloc mechanisms, will bring to the Asia-Pacific "new challenges and threats that Europe is facing today."

"Involving only 'separately selected' countries (participants - TASS) of ASEAN in the activities of these structures causes tangible damage to the unity of the ‘ten’ (member states - TASS), reducing its ability to ensure peace and stability. While paying lip service to strengthening the central role of the association, in practice Western countries hypocritically try to destroy the ASEAN-centric associations," Fomin pointed out.

At the same time, he underscored that interaction within the framework of AUKUS allows its members not only to modernize their armed forces in terms of conventional weapons, but also to develop their nuclear component, which is detrimental to the non-proliferation regime of weapons of mass destruction in the Asia-Pacific region.

The 10th ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting-Plus is being held in Jakarta on November 16. Defense ministers and officials from the US, China, Russia and Southeast Asian countries gathered to discuss geopolitical situation in the region and around the world.

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