The Russian Defense Ministry pointed out the danger of the West's policy of creating new blocs to replace ASEAN

On November 1, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Oleg Saveliev took part in the Twelfth Meeting of Defense Ministers of ASEAN member Countries and Dialogue Partners, which was held in Kuala Lumpur. The meeting is timed to coincide with the 15th anniversary of the formation of SMOA Plus.

In his speech, Saveliev emphasized the importance of multilateral military cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region for maintaining stability in the region, and also emphasized the contribution of the Russian Ministry of Defense to the work of SMOA Plus. In addition, he assessed the current situation in the field of global and regional security.

"Russia stands for the observance of the principle of unified and indivisible security, which implies mutual respect between states and ensuring their interests without prejudice to the security of other countries," the deputy minister said.

According to him, Russia sees the danger of the West's policy of blurring and replacing Asean-centric security with new closed blocs such as AUKUS, Indo-Pacific Four, QUAD, SQUAD, and JAPHUS. Saveliev clarified that the activities of these blocks lead to the emergence of new dividing lines and hotbeds of tension in the region.

"Taking into account the current consolidation of the Alliance's power potential in Asia, we believe that these block structures will likely transform into the Indo-Pacific Alliance in the near future, a direct analogue of NATO," the deputy head of the Russian Defense Ministry said.

On the sidelines of the event, Saveliev also held working meetings with the Deputy Minister of Defense of Malaysia and the Minister of Defense of Laos. Plans for bilateral military cooperation for 2026, as well as prospects for the development of relations in regional multilateral formats, primarily the SMOA Plus, were discussed.

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Earlier, on October 26, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk said that Russia and the ASEAN countries share common interests in the field of trade against the background of the duties imposed by the United States. He also added that Washington's actions lead to the reformatting of supply chains and attempts to build new routes.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.