NATO may end up integrating with AUKUS, the security pact between the US, UK and Australia, as Washington strives to reshape the Asia-Pacific region to serve its own needs, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed on Tuesday.
Speaking at the 21st International Security Conference in Moscow, the Russian leader stated that “the United States seeks, among other things, to reformat the system of inter-state interaction that has developed in the Asia-Pacific region.” He added that calls to develop so-called Indo-Pacific strategies are “essentially aimed at creating military-political associations that are controlled by Washington.”
“We do not rule out that things are leading to the full integration of NATO forces with the structures being created by the AUKUS bloc,” Putin stressed, referring to the pact agreed in late 2021 between Washington, London and Canberra.
The president mentioned this possible integration as he warned of a “neo-colonial West,” led by Washington, seeking to delay the formation of a multipolar world by destabilizing and sparking tensions across its various regions.
“Most countries are ready to defend their sovereignty and national interests, traditions, culture and way of life. New economic and political centers are being strengthened,” Putin observed, noting that this trend can become an important basis for stable and progressive global development.
As this progresses, however, “pockets of old conflicts are being swelled and new ones are being provoked” across different regions of the planet, the Russian leader warned.
“The goal of those who do this is obvious: to continue to profit from human tragedies, to pit people against each other, to force states into vassal obedience within the neo-colonial system and to exploit their resources mercilessly,” Putin stated.
He added that NATO member countries continue to build up and modernize their offensive capabilities and are even attempting to spread military confrontation to outer space and to the domain of information, using both military and non-military means.
The president noted that although the security challenges in each of the hotbeds that have been smoldering across the world have their own unique characteristics, “in fact, all of them are generated by geopolitical adventures, [by the] selfish, neo-colonial actions of the West.”
Putin said Russia remains committed to reducing confrontation at global and regional levels and continues to strive for the development of a multipolar world order, based on the priority of the norms and principles of international law, as well as on constructive cooperation and trust.