Moscow sees AUKUS as aimed at Russia as well as China. In an interview with Argumenty i Fakty, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev described the QUAD alliance, composed of the US, India, Australia, and Japan, as a “prototype of an Asian NATO,” reported TASS. “Washington will try to involve other countries in this organization, chiefly in order to pursue anti-China and anti-Russia policies,” Patrushev said.
“A short while ago, a new military bloc was formed in the region, the US-UK-Australian AUKUS, which pursues the same goals. Remarkably, the Americans squeezed their French partners out, grabbing a profitable deal for construction of nuclear submarines for Canberra. Apparently, Atlantic solidarity has a price,” Patrushev added.
