In an interview given to Nikkei Asian Review today, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov warned of the danger of the formation of the Quad, the military collaboration among the U.S., Japan, Australia and India, which is clearly aimed against China. “Russia, for its part, will never participate in coalitions against third countries, including China,” Antonov says.” “Unfortunately, Washington promotes anti-Chinese sentiments and its relations with regional countries are based on their support to such an approach,” the ambassador said. Asked about the “free and open Indo-Pacific” which the Quad is supposed to be defending, Antonov replied that it is neither free nor open, but rather “non-transparent and non-inclusive.” It is “closed to a lot of countries and even whole regions if we talk about the Indian Ocean countries,” he said.
Antonov also went after Washington’s much-touted “rules-based order.” “What are those rules, who created them and who agreed to them — all this remains unclear,” he said. He then spoke of India’s important relationship with Russia. “Russia is strengthening its ties with India in the areas which the U.S. and other Western countries have closed for cooperation with New Delhi,” he said, mentioning, in particular, energy and “military-technical cooperation.”
