On May 25, Russian Ambassador to South Korea Andrei Kulik stated that the problem of relations between Asia-Pacific countries will persist as long as the US actively participates in the process of "bloc building" here.
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| Russian Ambassador to South Korea Andrei Kulik. (Source: yonhap) |
Speaking to professors, graduate students and doctoral candidates at Wonkwang University (South Korea), Ambassador Kulik mentioned Russia's stance on the Ukraine crisis, Seoul's participation in sanctions against Moscow and other issues.
Answering the question of “what needs to be done” to make progress in improving relations between Northeast Asian countries, the Russian diplomat argued: “First of all, the US needs to abandon its attempts to build a bloc in the Asia-Pacific region.”
According to him, it is clear that Washington has begun to form so-called small blocs such as the US-UK-Australia (AUKUS) trilateral security agreement, the Quad and other blocs in the region and these blocs "are being built on a basis that is mainly anti-China, but also anti-Russia".
"In parallel with this process, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is involved in regional issues in every possible way. In such a situation, it is difficult to expect any changes for the better..." Ambassador Kulik added.
The Russian diplomat noted that only when such bloc-building activities end and the US returns to "applying the theory and practice of normal, multilateral and inclusive cooperation will there be changes in a more positive direction."
In addition, the Russian Ambassador to South Korea commented that the Northeast Asian region already had a trilateral cooperation mechanism between China, South Korea and Japan, but at present, this mechanism has been "put aside" because the US "does not need" Beijing's presence in the aforementioned trio.
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