Moscow: Nuland Informed AUKUS Threatens to Undermine Security Architecture in Asia-Pacific

ST.PETERSBURG (Sputnik) - US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland was informed that the AUKUS alliance treaty threatens to undermine security architecture in Asia-Pacific, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said on Thursday.

"In a conversation with Victoria Nuland, it was emphasized that this kind of AUKUS partnership, which is being formed, if not cobbled together by the United States, Britain and Australia, not only threatens to undermine the existing security architecture in the Asia-Pacific region but, in principle, potentially carries risks for the international non-proliferation regime," Zakharova told a press conference.

Negotiations between Russian officials and US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland were useful, timely and frank, Maria Zakharova said.

"On the whole, we assess the talks held at the Russian Foreign Ministry, the negotiations with Victoria Nuland, as useful, as timely. The conversation turned out to be extremely frank, without avoiding details of numerous problems and irritants in bilateral relations, including obstacles artificially created by Washington for the activities of Russian diplomatic missions and constantly imposed visa and other restrictions to which we are forced to respond," Zakharova told a briefing.

The ministry’s spokeswoman added that Moscow and Washington "share the desire to maintain a dialogue in order to make bilateral relations more stable and predictable."

The Russian side also informed Nuland about readiness to establish contacts with the US at all levels, Zakharova said.

Nuland was informed about Moscow’s concerns over the deployment of US troops in Poland and NATO activity near Russian borders, Zakharova added.

"At the initiative of the Russian side, the topic of the dangerous NATO activities in the immediate vicinity of the Russian borders - primarily in Eastern Europe, in the Black Sea was touched upon," Zakharova told a press conference.

The spokeswoman added that Moscow is especially concerned over the recent decision to deploy the US military in Poland.

Maria Zakharova said that Victoria Nuland was informed that the deployment of NATO and US military infrastructure in Central Asia is unacceptable for Moscow.

"While discussing international topics, much attention was paid to ... the situation in Afghanistan after the evacuation of the American military contingent ended with a real tragedy, collapse," Zakharova told reporters.

"Once again, it was clearly and unequivocally stated that the deployment of the US or NATO military infrastructure in Central Asia is categorically unacceptable for Russia," she said.

AUKUS was announced in mid-September and spurred backlash from the European Union, particularly, France, which lost a multi-billion contract on the development of submarines with Australia after Canberra chose to quit it in favour of the deal with its AUKUS partners.

Under the new deal, Australia will obtain the technology for developing its own nuclear submarines, which has sparked concerns about the future of the non-proliferation regime in the region.