MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th October, 2022) The AUKUS partnership of Australia, the UK, and the US, is strengthening at full speed, including through non-regional players, Nikolay Nozdrev, the head of the Russian foreign ministry's Third Asian Department, told Sputnik, adding that the alliance plans to involve not only South Korea, but also Germany.
"The strengthening of the 'Troika' is in full swing, the range of its programs of a strategic nature is expanding, and other participants in regional processes that are interesting to its architects are actively being pulled into this format," Nozdrev said.
Not only Canada and New Zealand are involved in the implementation of AUKUS projects, but also Japan and South Korea, which have serious technological potential, the diplomat said. Some ASEAN members are also considered candidates.
One of the elements of the architecture formed by the West on the basis of AUKUS can be considered the Partnership in the Blue Pacific created in June, which is essentially "the first official format of 'AUKUS+'" with Japan and New Zealand, albeit still camouflaged as a discussion of various kinds of neutral issues, he said.
"There are plans to involve South Korea, Canada, France and Germany in this structure � although, it would seem, where is the Pacific Ocean, and where are Paris and Berlin � that took part in the ministerial meeting of this mechanism held on September 22, 2022, in the United States," Nozdrev said.
