Lavrov Says West Sought to Undermine Constructive Work at East Asia Summit

"As for the attempts to Ukrainianize anything and everything, which are being made by our Western colleagues, these attempts are increasingly tiring for countries that want to engage in concrete affairs rather than support propaganda in favor of the Kiev regime," Sergey Lavrov stressed

© Russian foreign Ministry press service/TASS

DHAKA, September 7. /TASS/. Western countries sought to undermine constructive work at the East Asia Summit by using every excuse to bring up the issue of Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said following talks with Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abul Kalam Abdul Momen.

"The 'Western collective' with the participation of some of their partners from the Asian part of this summit tried every possible way to undermine the constructive work, using various pretexts to raise the Ukrainian issue at one angle or another," he said.

Lavrov said that the summit "was a success thanks to the tremendous work done by the Indonesian chairmanship." The minister also said Russia supports "the chairmanship's efforts to ensure the focus of all participants on those issues that are on the agenda <...> of the forum."

"This is above all the acceleration of sustainable development of the countries in the region, solving problems in the field of food and energy security, improving emergency preparedness, the adoption of the digital economy and much more," he continued. "As a result, the declaration that was endorsed at the summit this morning aims all ASEAN countries and their eight partners, this is the makeup of the East Asia summits, to address these very issues."

The minister also stated that attempts to undermine the work of the summit were stopped and it was made reaffirmed that "the East Asia summits will continue to pursue their previously agreed agenda, which does not include problems of geopolitical scale <...> and does not deal with the settlement of any crisis and conflict situations."

"Ultimately, what prevailed was the spirit of ASEAN, which remained true to its principles of seeking a balance of interests and consensus," he said.

"As for the attempts to Ukrainianize anything and everything, which are being made by our Western colleagues, these attempts are increasingly tiring for countries that want to engage in concrete affairs rather than support propaganda in favor of the Kiev regime, which is being used by the West to wage war against Russia," Lavrov said.

About the summit

The East Asia Summit opened today in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. Such summits are held once a year in conjunction with the fall events of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Lavrov is representing Russia at the summit.

The East Asia Summit was established in 2005 as a platform for strategic dialogue among leaders of the Asia-Pacific region on pressing issues of ensuring security and economic growth and promoting practical cooperation. The forum is attended by ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) and their dialogue partners (Russia, Australia, China, India, New Zealand, South Korea, the United States and Japan). East Timor, as a candidate for ASEAN membership, has been invited to this year’s East Asia Summit events.