Russia stands for creating new security architecture in Asia-Pacific — Defense Ministry

MOSCOW, December 24. /TASS/. Russia is using wider cooperation by defense ministries in the Asia-Pacific Region for creating a new security architecture of security, Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov told the media on Wednesday.

“We have been using regional floors (in Asia and the Pacific) for advancing ideas of creating a new architecture of security and cooperation. Our opinion enjoys attention. We shall take practical steps to rise to these expectations,” Antonov said.

In general, said Antonov, the outgoing year saw greater military cooperation between Russia and the Asia-Pacific on the bilateral basis and in multilateral formats. “Russia’s approaches to creating a system of equitable and indivisible security arouse the interest of military officials in the region’s countries,” he said.

Antonov recalled that Russia continued to participate in multilateral forums in the region — the conference of the defense ministers of ASEAN and its dialogue partners, as well as consultations by the defense ministers of South and Southeast Asia, which Sri Lanka initiated last November.

Defense contacts with Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar and other states continued to develop, Antonov said.

Russian naval ships’ visits to the region’s ports have traditionally been high-profile events. This year the Russian Navy’s ships have paid 75 visits to ports in 16 countries, he added.