MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/. NATO is building up its force potential in the Asia-Pacific region while the actions of Western countries are aimed at undermining the region’s ASEAN-centric security architecture, which has proven to be effective, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces and First Deputy Defense Minister Valery Gerasimov said.

"In the Asia-Pacific region, there is a sharp increase in the potential for conflict. The main reason for this is the actions of Western countries aimed at undermining the ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations]-centric security architecture, which has been established here and has proven its effectiveness. <...> We note the build-up of NATO's force potential in the Asia-Pacific region," Gerasimov told foreign military attaches at a briefing.

According to him, the creation of NATO-like military blocs in the Asia-Pacific region, such as AUKUS (Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States), the triparty alliance of the United States, Japan and South Korea, and other military-oriented quasi-alliances, "brings to the region challenges and threats similar to those facing Europe today." "Interaction within the framework of AUKUS allows member states not only to modernize their armed forces in terms of conventional weapons, but also to develop their nuclear component, which is detrimental to the global regime of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," the senior defense official said.

In addition, Gerasimov pointed to the escalation of tensions "according to Washington's scenario" around Myanmar, Taiwan and the Korean Peninsula, the escalation of territorial disputes in the South China Sea and the West's use of conflict situations to pump strategic weapons into the region.