President Putin = 25th, Moscow (AP = Kyodo)
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview on state television broadcast on the 26th that the United States would extend the influence of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to the Asia-Pacific region, and that the Tripartite Pact of Japan, Germany, and Italy during the Second World War would be a major threat. He criticized the formation of such an “axis power”.
Putin said that cooperation with China, which has deepened economic and military ties, was “not a military alliance” and stressed that it would not pose a threat to third parties.
He added that the U.S.-led NATO has stepped up cooperation with Australia, South Korea, Japan and others, and that “the U.S. is the one creating new alliances.” “We are aiming to form a new axis similar to the alliance created in the 1930s by fascist-dominated Germany and Italy and the militaristic Japanese regimes,” he said.
Russia has criticized the security framework “AUKUS” of the three countries of the United States, Britain and Australia as “an attempt to expand NATO into Asia.” We are also cautious about the “quad”. (Joint)
