Lavrov warns AUKUS may cause long regional confrontation
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov lashes out at the EU for obediently carrying out the plans of Washington.
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaking at a press conference in Moscow, Russia, on September 6, 2022 (AFP)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, on Tuesday, the Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) trilateral security pact paves the way for a long confrontation with the regional countries for many years.
Lavrov made his remarks at the opening of the founding congress of the International Movement of Russophiles.
"The Anglo-Saxon world with the creation of bloc structures like AUKUS, with the promotion of NATO military infrastructure in Asia, is making a serious bid for confrontation for many years, because I cannot imagine how the great Asian civilizations will simply be taken under control, as, unfortunately, was the European Union, and will obediently carry out the plans of Washington and our other Anglo-Saxon colleagues," Lavrov said.
Lavrov's statement came shortly after US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese unmasked details of their plan to build a new fleet of nuclear-powered attack submarines for Canberra.
On Monday, a US official said Australia will buy as many as five US nuclear-powered submarines and later build a new model with US and British technology under a plan to strengthen the AUKUS Western alliance across the Asia-Pacific against rising China.
Australia had previously been on track to replace its aging fleet of diesel-powered submarines with a $66 billion package of French vessels, also conventionally powered.
The announcement by Canberra that it was backing out of that deal and entering the AUKUS project sparked a brief but unusually furious row between all three countries and their close ally France.
A 'crisis of trust'
Australia had originally planned to replace its old fleet of diesel-powered submarines with a $66 billion package of conventionally powered French vessels.
Canberra's unexpected declaration that it was withdrawing from the pact and joining the AUKUS project prompted a brief but unusually heated row between all three countries and its strong ally France.
Australia is currently attempting to wield the technologically superior US and, subsequently, US-British underwater vessels, which will be capable of remaining submerged virtually indefinitely and launching massive cruise missiles.
When compared to Australia's Collins-class submarines, the Virginia class is over twice as long and carries 132 crew members rather than 48.
On its account, China has constantly warned that AUKUS risked setting off an arms race and accused the three countries of setting back nuclear nonproliferation efforts.
"We urge the US, the UK and Australia to abandon the Cold War mentality and zero-sum games, honor international obligations in good faith and do more things that are conducive to regional peace and stability," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning told journalists in Beijing.
Chinese President Xi Jinping made a statement last week accusing the United States of leading a Western effort at "all-round containment, encirclement and suppression of China."
It is worth noting that Chinese Australian relations have been in a downward spiral for several years due to the UK's aggressive policy toward Beijing, most notably on China's internal matters in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
