Lavrov to discuss Putin’s Eurasian security plan in Laos

MOSCOW (TASS) --  While attending events within the framework of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Laos, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will discuss President Putin’s initiative on creating Eurasian security architecture, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko has told TASS in an interview.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

“In the current conditions, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s initiative of shaping the Eurasian security architecture is gaining particular significance. We view the Association, whose foundation rests on the principles of equality, respect of all countries and interconnection, as a natural partner in this process,” he said, when asked about topics that will be brought up in Laos. In his words, Russia feels the need to discuss militarisation of the Asia-Pacific Region, as well as attempts to deploy more strategic weapons and bring in NATO’s conflict potential. Lavrov also plans to raise the issue of closed military blocs that are being promoted in the region to the detriment of inclusive ASEAN-centric cooperation mechanisms.
“Those issues will be on the agenda of the ministerial meetings in the format of the East Asia Summit and the ASEAN Regional Forum on security, along with efforts to combat counter-terrorism and transnational crime, as well as with matters of developing maritime cooperation,” Rudenko added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told senior staff of the Russian Foreign Ministry on June 14 that Russia should work on “an indivisible system of Eurasian security that takes into account the interests of all the states on the continent without exception.”
According to an earlier announcement by the Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will take part in the regular meetings of ASEAN foreign ministers on July 26-27 in Vientiane, the capital of Laos.

(Latest Update July 25, 2024)