Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu addressed the sixth round of consultations between high-level Russian and ASEAN representatives overseeing security issues, held on the sidelines of the First International Security Forum in Moscow. He warned that nuclear weapons may appear in Australia, due to the AUKUS agreement, reported TASS. He also noted that Japan is flirting with NATO and Ukrainian neo-Nazis. According to the TASS summary of his remarks, he made the following points:
• The categorical rejection by the United States of the Russian initiative to preserve the legacy of the Russian-American New START Treaty in the form of voluntary self-restraint is a cause for “serious concern.” The American side “has taken the path of ensuring itself complete freedom of action, declaring its readiness to begin expanding its nuclear arsenal beyond the New START limits and to resume nuclear testing at any moment.”
• “Washington is building up the capabilities of the group of its military forces in the Asia-Pacific region and focuses on developing the potential of regional allies within military-political alliances that it creates,” Shoigu said. “Japan and the Republic of Korea are preparing to accommodate American nuclear weapons on their territory with all the ensuing consequences for regional security. Nuclear weapons may also emerge on the territory of Australia due to its participation in the AUKUS pact.”
• The United States is implementing highly destabilizing programs in the Asia-Pacific region “to build a regional segment of the global missile defense system, forward-deploy land-based intermediate-and shorter-range missiles, and expand the scale of military maneuvers.”
• The United States is increasing its military force deployment capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region and is relying on developing the potential of regional allies within the framework of emerging military-political alliances: “The West’s steps to expand NATO military activity in the region are extremely destructive.”
• The current Japanese leadership is flirting not only with NATO, but also with Ukrainian neo-Nazis and Taiwanese separatists: “Everybody remembers perfectly well what actions were attempted by the Empire of Japan in its militarist frenzy in the 20th century. Nobody knows what can be expected of the current authorities in this country which are flirting with NATO, neo-Nazi Ukrainians and separatists in Taiwan.”
• The United States is preparing to “extort money from its satellites” in Asia for military adventures: “Tokyo and Washington are already openly discussing the creation of an Indo-Pacific Treaty Organization on the model of NATO, with collective defense commitments. A corresponding bill has been introduced in the US Congress.”
The bill Shoigu referred to is numbered H.R. 3721 and titled the “Indo-Pacific Treaty Organization Act.” It mandates the establishment of a task force to “analyze the conduct of China and North Korea, as well as the security situation in the Indo-Pacific,” and to “determine whether a collective security agreement between the United States and Indo-Pacific allies and partners could serve as an effective deterrent to further aggression.”
The bill was introduced into the House of Representatives on June 4, 2025 by Rep. Michael Lawler (R-NY) and referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, but no action has been taken on it since.
