September 3, 2024 (EIRNS)—Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told students and faculty of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) that the U.S. is deploying intermediate-range weapons in both Europe and the Pacific. “Previously banned ground-based systems of intermediate- and medium-range missiles are being brought to the Philippines. Just like in other parts of Europe, they have already appeared in Denmark, and now they are [appearing] in the Philippines,” he said, reported TASS. He noted that the U.S. has now stepped up its activities in Asia, primarily in Southeast Asia, East Asia, and North Asia. “But they act differently than we do. They do not respect the rules that were created by ASEAN. ... They want to split ASEAN. The main goal here is to contain China,” he emphasized.
“The Indo-Pacific Strategy was developed for this purpose. It means that the U.S. creates good ol’ boy alliances. Here they have created AUKUS ... they have created the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad). They are creating the Indo-Pacific Four (IP4)—Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand. They are trying to create a semblance of the Quad with the Philippines instead of India.... And all this is being done in formats to which neither we, nor the Chinese, nor many other countries are invited,” Lavrov concluded.
