Lavrov – following the results of the East Asian summit in Cambodia: NATO no longer says that it is a purely defensive alliance. It was defensive when the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact existed.

Other statements from Lavrov: NATO and the United States are trying to master the Asia-Pacific region by militarizing it

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that this is aimed at curbing the interests of China and Russia:

""One of the concrete manifestations of this line was the creation of the AUGUST military bloc: the United States, Australia, Britain, which is now actively trying to attract New Zealand, Canada, Japan.

Closed initiatives are being promoted to organize monitoring of maritime activities, which is directly linked to the need for some kind of Western confrontational actions in the South China Sea. Our Chinese friends understand this very well."