Russian Foreign Minister Says EU Turning Into 'NATO Appendage'

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday that the EU is turning from an economic union into "a NATO appendage."

Speaking at a press briefing in the Tajik capital Dushanbe, following a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Lavrov said "the EU has turned from a constructive economic platform, as which it was created, into an aggressive militant player, declaring its ambitions far beyond the European continent."

As an example of the EU ambition beyond the continent, Lavrov "ed a statement by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who said the EU has to play an active role in ensuring the security of the Indo-Pacific region.

"The other day, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in her classic aggressive style, stated that the EU is obliged to play an active role in ensuring the security of the Indo-Pacific region.

"That is, they are rushing exactly along the tracks that NATO is already laying, thereby confirming the trend that they are merging with the North Atlantic Alliance and will perform the functions of its appendage," Lavrov noted.

Russia harshly criticized the establishment of AUKUS -- a trilateral security pact between Australia, the UK, and US announced on Sept. 15, 2021 for the Indo-Pacific region -- qualifying it as a creation of "Asian NATO" and an attempt to revive the neo-colonial policy by the West, to subdue again its former colonies.

China also protested the establishment of AUKUS as it may serve the purposes of the country's military containment.

AUKUS last month extended an unofficial invitation to Japan to join the bloc.

Afghanistan

Turning to the situation in Afghanistan, Lavrov said it is necessary to restore the country, and that this work has to be sponsored in the first turn by the Western countries that caused suffering to the people of Afghanistan for two decades.

Lavrov then added that Russia maintains its approach regarding the political settlement in Afghanistan, insisting that the current contradictions, including the military confrontation in the Panjshir Valley, may be resolved through the formation of an inclusive government, a body, that will include representatives of all Afghan political forces.

Lavrov said he discussed with the Taliban the issue of an inclusive government, and that the new Afghan authorities consider their government inclusive because it comprises representatives of different nations.

The minister argued that political inclusivity is a different thing, that all these national representatives that the Taliban included in the governance of the country are also part of the Taliban, and that no other political forces take part in the state administration.

"It is necessary to expand this composition. We are sending such a signal. Our Chinese colleagues, with whom we cooperate in various formats on the Afghan settlement, act from the same positions. We urge everyone else involved in this process, including Pakistan, to take the same position," he said.

The top diplomat also said he expects that Tajikistan, which has a serious influence on Afghanistan, especially in the north of the country, will also continue to help achieve common goals in Afghanistan, turning it into a peaceful and prosperous country that does not pose a threat to anyone.

"All countries of the region are interested in the implementation ," he said. -