JAKARTA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th July, 2023) Russia is ready to agree to the creation of a nuclear-free zone in Southeast Asia, provided that all participants comply with the requirements of the Treaty of Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said on Monday that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will ask Russia and other nuclear powers at the ministerial meetings to join the Treaty of Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone.
"We are not talking about Russia's accession to the treaty, but about a protocol to it, which invites nuclear powers to sign this protocol, thereby providing assurances to the parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Southeast Asia ... We are ready to put a signature together with other countries, permanent members of the (UN) Security Council, with one reservation ... on the condition that all parties to the treaty comply with its requirements: not to possess, develop or host any nuclear weapons elements," Lavrov told reporters on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers meeting in Indonesia's Jakarta.
