All news

New members unlikely to join AUKUS, Russian envoy says

"This is an Anglo-Saxon brainchild. Other members are unlikely to be welcome here," Andrey Kelin noted

MOSCOW, September 24. /TASS/. Russian Ambassador to the UK Andrey Kelin does not expect new members to join the AUKUS partnership between Australia, the US and the UK.

"I don’t think so, it’s a different thing entirely," he said on TV Friday, when asked if other countries could join this trilateral association.

"This is an Anglo-Saxon brainchild. Other members are unlikely to be welcome here. Actually, the tasks listed as standing before AUKUS are limited in nature."

He noted that there is no talk of a military-political alliance within the AUKUS framework.

"We will continue finding out the details and clarify our attitude to this business," the Russian diplomat concluded.

On September 16, Australia, the UK and the US announced a new strategic security partnership - AUKUS. Under the agreement, Australia plans to build at least eight US-designed nuclear-powered submarines and equip its forces with US-designed cruise missiles, among other things. Because of this agreement, Canberra terminated a major defense contract with France, which called this decision "a stab in the back." China warned that the creation of AUKUS will reinforce the arms race and urged the AUKUS participants to abolish the "Cold War mentality" and "narrow-minded geopolitical concepts.".