MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/. NATO is seeking to extend its reach into Eurasia and promote its interests across the entire continent, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a conference of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on security issues in Central Asia and Afghanistan.
"NATO has no place in Eurasia," he said. "NATO is now trying to claim that the entire territory of Eurasia falls within its area of responsibility because it is a defensive alliance that protects the territories of its member states. However, threats to the territories of North Atlantic Alliance countries supposedly now originate from the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea and elsewhere."
"This is a major philosophical shift that demonstrates NATO’s intention to dictate its will far beyond its area of responsibility," Lavrov pointed out.
In this regard, the foreign minister continued, "some kind of constructive response is needed, and only the countries of the region themselves can provide it." According to him, such a response is the idea of a Greater Eurasian Partnership put forward by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"It is necessary to use the process of forming a Eurasian partnership as a material foundation for interaction among countries and integration structures located in Eurasia, and then build a collective security framework on that basis," the minister stressed. "Our president’s initiative is addressed to all countries, regional and subregional associations located on the Eurasian continent, without exception. It is difficult to imagine and envision this under the current circumstances, but I am nevertheless convinced that setting such a goal at the conceptual level is highly reasonable. It would underscore that the initiators and like-minded partners who embrace this idea envision an open and inclusive future for the development of our shared continent."