Sochi ASEAN summit: Russia eyes economic expansion in SE Asia

MOSCOW–Russia moved to forge stronger ties with the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) last week, pledging to focus on economy rather than geopolitical alliances.

Local observers preferred to highlight geopolitical aspects of the rapprochement between Russia and Southeast Asia. Russian media outlets, including Sputnik International, noted that Russia looked to the East, seeking new allies among US partners in Asia.

The Russian Black Sea resort city of Sochi hosted the Russia-ASEAN summit on May 19-20. The confab marked the 20th anniversary of the partnership. Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed Southeast Asian leaders amid Moscow’s continued disagreements with the West.

Putin Believes Creation of ASEAN-EEU Free Trade Zone Possible

SOCHI (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said the creation of an ASEAN-EEU free trade zone was not only possible, but “a preferred format.”

Russia is building network of ties with disgruntled US allies in Asia

As predicted in 2012, and as shown in the previous two posts, the U.S. is slowly being kicked out of Asia (See also HERE and HERE). A new Asian bloc will form under the umbrella protectorate of China and likely, as the article indicates here, Russia will be involved too. Japan will drift to the new Asian bloc and abandon the alliance with America which is backing down from China and allowing it to capture the Asian Pacific. It’s better to join the team you can’t beat instead of getting decimated in war, especially when your team has defectors.

The world is changing rapidly with events that happen only once every 1000 years. Get ready for a world dominated by Europe and Asia. The SCO will be a major player and likely be the military arm, with the largest military the world has ever seen.

 

Imperceptibly though, Russia is certainly on course to building a chain of positive relations, if not strategic alliances, in the region surrounding it.

While the West and its strong allies in the region see the move as part of Russia’s “expansionism”, others view it as the Russian way of counterbalancing the U.S. position in the region.

Moscow is providing a number of erstwhile U.S. allies the much needed alternative to diversify their foreign policies. This diversification is visible across the region.

For instance, countries including India and Afghanistan have started supporting China’s stance on South China Sea.