US-Japan joint naval exercises threat to security of Russia

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov said that neither the creation of AUKUS nor the synchronous reaction of the US regional allies — Canada, Japan and New Zealand planning "to establish contacts" with the alliance — is surprising.

"The task is obvious: to form a platform for the eventual establishment of NATO's military potential in the Asia-Pacific region. This can hardly be considered in isolation from the trend of the alliance's turn towards Asia with the undisguised goal of containing China, enshrined in the updated NATO strategy," Morgulov said, according to Sputnik.

There are also attempts to include ASEAN countries in the AUKUS+ alliance aimed at pushing Russia and China out of cooperation mechanisms in the Asia-Pacific region, the diplomat said.

Commenting on the relatively high intensity of joint naval exercises conducted by Japan and the United States near the Russian border, the diplomat said that this provokes an increase in tension in the region.

"We regard such actions by the Japanese side as a threat to the security of our country. We directly warn Tokyo about this through diplomatic channels. They should be prepared for the fact that if such practices expand, Russia will take retaliatory measures in the interests of strengthening its defense capabilities," Morgulov added.

According to the diplomat, plans to turn the Quad format (India, Australia, Japan and the United States) into a prototype of "Asian NATO" will not come true.

"I am convinced that the plans of those 'political engineers' who would like to see in it the prototype of 'Asian NATO' on the basis of 'Indo-Pacific' solidarity, which mirrors the Euro-Atlantic alliance, are not destined to come true," Morgulov said, adding that Asian countries do not wish to be drawn into the Sino-US confrontation.

ZZ/PR