Russian diplomat invokes Libya in warning against proposed ‘Asian NATO’

Russia has warned Asia-Pacific countries against supporting the creation of a NATO-style regional alliance, invoking the Western military bloc’s record in Libya as part of its argument against new security groupings.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said proposals promoted by figures in the United States and Europe to establish an Asian counterpart to NATO should concern countries across the region.

In remarks reported by Russia’s state-run TASS news agency on Wednesday, Rudenko said some advocates had suggested calling the proposed grouping the “Indo-Pacific Treaty Organisation”.

He argued that such an alliance would not benefit Asia, citing what he described as NATO’s “historical legacy” in Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya. He also presented the war in Ukraine as the latest consequence of confrontation involving the alliance.

The references formed part of Moscow’s broader criticism of NATO and reflected the Russian government’s position rather than an independently established assessment of the conflicts concerned.

Rudenko said Russia instead supported an inclusive approach to relations among Asia-Pacific countries, based on open and equal participation by interested states.

He identified the Eurasian Economic Union, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as examples of multilateral institutions that Moscow believes can advance cooperation and shared development.

The comments come amid closer engagement between NATO and several Indo-Pacific partners, including Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Those partnerships have expanded in recent years, although the countries are not members of the alliance.

Chinese researchers have also criticised NATO’s growing ties with the region. A report published in July by the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations warned that deeper military and defence cooperation with countries including Japan could place the alliance increasingly at odds with an emerging multipolar international order.

NATO was established as a collective defence alliance focused on the North Atlantic area, but it has developed security partnerships with countries outside its traditional geographical sphere.