Russia rejects attempts to form “Eastern NATO,” Shoigu says

Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu has warned that emerging security initiatives in the Asia-Pacific resemble attempts to build an “Eastern NATO,” a development he said is unacceptable to Moscow and its partners.

Speaking at a meeting with Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith, Shoigu criticised what he described as efforts to construct a “new security architecture” in the region that excludes Russia.

“Attempts to establish what is now being called a new architecture—more precisely, an Eastern NATO—cannot suit us,” Shoigu said, according to remarks carried by RIA Novosti.

He stressed that Russia supports an ASEAN-centric security framework, which he said has been shaped over decades by the region’s experience of conflicts and “tragic events.”

Shoigu reiterated his concerns on 10 December, stating that the Asia-Pacific was witnessing the emergence of “NATO embryos”—security blocs that, in Moscow’s view, pose additional risks both for the region and for Russia.

By Vugar Khalilov