JAKARTA, November 16. /TASS/. The Russian Defense Ministry sees tensions mounting around Myanmar, Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula and territorial disputes in the South China Sea, a senior Russian military official said.

"We see tensions mounting around Myanmar, Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula and territorial disputes in the South China Sea as well as the West using conflicts to pump the region with strategic weapons," Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said at the 10th ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting-Plus underway in Jakarta.

Fomin pointed to the unprecedented pressure currently being exerted on Myanmar as an ASEAN member country. "The attempts to curb this nation’s participation in ASEAN mechanisms, especially by countries outside of ASEAN, are yet another challenge to the unity and integrity of the association," he underlined. Fomin slammed this as "unacceptable interference in the internal affairs of an independent country" as he expressed his confidence that the Myanmar government and the Burmese people can settle any issues independently.

Commenting on Russia’s stance in favor of involved parties resolving territorial disputes in the South China Sea on their own, the military official reaffirmed that it "remains unchanged." He also welcomed joint efforts by ASEAN and China toward agreeing on a code of conduct in the South China Sea.