NATO is trying to expand beyond its borders, into Eurasia - Russia's foreign minister
Sergey Lavrov emphasized that this alliance has no place in Eurasia
Moscow, October 16. /TASS/. In a conference with the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Commonwealth of Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on security issues in Central Asia and Afghanistan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that NATO seeks to expand its influence in Eurasia and promote its interests across the continent.
"NATO has no place in Eurasia," he said. NATO is now trying to claim that the entire territory of Eurasia is within its sphere of responsibility because it is a defense alliance that protects the territories of its member states. However, threats to NATO territories now appear to originate from the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea, and elsewhere.
"This is a major philosophical shift that indicates NATO's intention to dictate its will far beyond its sphere of responsibility," Lavrov noted.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs continued: In this regard, some kind of constructive response is needed and only the countries of the region can provide it. According to him, such an answer is the idea of the Great Eurasian Partnership, which was proposed by the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of our country emphasized: The formation process of the Eurasian partnership should be used as a material basis for interaction between countries and integrated structures based in Eurasia, and then the collective security framework should be built on this basis. "The president's initiative is addressed to all countries, regional and sub-regional associations located on the Eurasian continent, without exception. It is difficult to imagine and imagine this in the current situation, but nevertheless I am convinced that setting such a goal is very logical at the conceptual level. It emphasizes that the initiators and like-minded partners who have accepted this idea envision an open and inclusive future for the development of our common continent."