On Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the West is “militarizing” southeast Asia to contain Russian and Chinese interests, foreshadowing a confrontation between Russia and Western leaders at the G20 summit in Bali.
The Kremlin stated that President Vladimir Putin was too preoccupied to attend the summit, so Russia will be represented by Lavrov instead for the first time since the Moscow invasion of Ukraine in February.
Ukraine is expected to be the key topic for discussion among Western leaders, who are likely to take a public stand against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Leaders will also pressure countries like China and India – which have both previously spoken out about the war – to criticize Moscow’s actions.
At the end of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Phnom Penh, Lavrov spoke at a press conference and criticized the United States for its actions in the region. Both Russia and the West see the region as a potential strategic geopolitical battleground in the coming decades.
“The United States and its NATO allies are trying to gain control of this space,” Lavrov told reporters. He said Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific strategy was an attempt to sidestep “inclusive structures” for regional cooperation and would entail “the militarization of this region with a clear focus on curtailing China and limiting Russian interests in the Asia-Pacific.”
Biden communicated to southeast Asian leaders that the US was dedicated to creating an “Indo Pacific that’s free and open, prosperous and stable, and secure and resilient” as he detailed a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the United States and the region.
Neither the United States nor Russia is a party to ASEAN, however, several world leaders attended the talks preceding next week’s G20 summit in Bali.
Since the West issued unprecedented sanctions against Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been working to build closer economic, political, and security ties with Asia.
Putin sees Russia and China as the head of a worldwide rebellion against the United States and the West’s post-Soviet supremacy. The United States, on the other hand, casts China and Russia as the two greatest dangers to global security.
Putin tries to conceal himself with the term “rebellion.” When the facts are evident, he is scared of the United States. China, on the other hand, does not fear the United States. They want peace. China is also aware that the United States is dependable compared to highly unstable Russia. Putin has provided evidence of this through his illegal invasion of Ukraine. He is currently being overpowered.
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