Russia and Vietnam consider drawing new dividing lines in the Asia-Pacific region to be counterproductive, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday, in an undisguised reference to AUKUS, a trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States announced in September
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th September, 2021) Russia and Vietnam consider drawing new dividing lines in the Asia-Pacific region to be counterproductive, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday, in an undisguised reference to AUKUS, a trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States announced in September.
The remark came following a meeting with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son in Moscow, during which the diplomats discussed the situation in the Asia-Pacific, as well as pointed to the need to form an architecture of equal and indivisible security in the region.
"In that connection, we share the view that attempts to draw new dividing lines in the Asia-Pacific region are counterproductive," Lavrov said at a joint press conference.
The Russian minister refers to the recently announced strategic defense partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, dubbed AUKUS. The trilateral pact forced Canberra to abandon a multi-billion contract with France to develop 12 state-of-the-art conventionally powered attack submarines, sparking tensions between Paris and AUKUS members.
Commenting on the new alliance, Russian Ambassador to London Andrey Kelin said last week that AUKUS was unlikely to become an Indo-Pacific NATO but its creation still carried significant risks.
