MOSCOW (Dispatches) - Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the Soloviev Live YouTube channel on Wednesday that the move by Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States to create a security partnership surprised its NATO allies more than their potential adversaries.
“It came as a total surprise and a shock for NATO,” she pointed out, TASS reported.
“It came as an absolute surprise not for those whom the U.S., Australia and the UK call their opponents and whom they are collaborating against, but for their allies and the military and political blocs that the U.S. and the UK are part of,” Zakharova added.
“The developments that are unfolding around Australia, a seemingly a faraway land, what is happening there is not just interesting - though it is interesting indeed - but it also requires special attention from the political analyst community, including experts on international relations and military and strategic issues,” the Russian diplomat noted.
On September 15, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States announced the formation of a new security pact called AUKUS. Australia particularly intends to use American technologies to build at least eight nuclear-powered submarines, the first of which will become operational in 2036, as well as to equip its armed forces with US-made cruise missiles.
The move broke an earlier defense deal inked with France, the biggest in Australia’s history. Paris slammed Canberra’s decision as “a stab in the back” and recalled its ambassadors from the US and Australia for consultations. France later expressed its determination to defend its interests during discussions of a trade agreement between the European Union and Australia.

‘AUKUS Alliance Pursues
Anti-China, Anti-Russia Policies’

A senior Russian security official says the new military pact between Australia, Britain and the U.S. is a hostile step aimed both at China and Russia.
Nikolay Patrushev, the secretary of Russia’s Security Council, said on Tuesday that the AUKUS alliance of Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States was a military bloc directed against Russia and China, stressing that the “venture” puts the entire security architecture in Asia at risk.
Patrushev said the accord would see the U.S. and UK team up with Australia to station nuclear submarines deep down in the Pacific Ocean, a partnership that mainly pursues “anti-China and anti-Russia policies.”
“A short while ago, a new military bloc was formed in the region, the U.S.-UK-Australian AUKUS, which pursues the same goals. Remarkably, the Americans squeezed their French partners out, grabbing a profitable deal for the construction of nuclear submarines for Canberra. Apparently, Atlantic solidarity has a price,” the Russian security council chief said.
“For the sake of translating another White House’s venture into action, for the sake of strengthening control over the promising Asia-Pacific region, the entire security architecture in Asia is exposed to danger and prerequisites are being created to damage the prestige of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and other regional associations,” he added.