West willing to work in Asia-Pacific region only within narrow alliances - senior Russian diplomat

MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS/. The West is interested in working in the Asia-Pacific region only within narrow alliances involving certain countries, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov said at the Valdai International Discussion Club’s platform. "When you start an in-depth analysis of the westerners’ view of the Asia-Pacific region, you come to understand that it is based on the usual US-oriented bloc schemes but in a new form," he said. "Nice words are used to describe all this but at the end of the day initiating countries are not embarrassed to say that as far as the Asia-Pacific region is concerned, they prefer to work within narrow alliances that would involve certain countries," the senior Russian diplomat stressed. According to Morgulov, if such a scenario is implemented, then truly multilateral efforts, particularly those made by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), will be "pushed into the background." Read more