MANILA /The Philippines/, July 22. /TASS/. Moscow is just as concerned as its ASEAN partners about the AUKUS military alliance's compliance with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) rules, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after ASEAN events in the Philippines.

Asked if Russia and its partners had discussed the possible expansion of AUKUS beyond just members Australia, the UK and the US, Lavrov said: "We did not discuss AUKUS, although our colleagues made it clear in bilateral conversations they are concerned that the parties to this project have shown, to put it mildly, very conditional compliance with the IAEA rules and principles that usually apply to such initiatives." "We share this concern and have repeatedly stated our position publicly, including in communication with the IAEA director general, urging him to finally adopt a more principled approach to ensuring compliance with the rules that apply in all other cases," the top Russian diplomat added.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced in June that the country’s government had no plans to review the agreements reached under the AUKUS military partnership, despite criticism of the project from within the ruling Labor Party. Established in 2021 under then-US President Joe Biden, the AUKUS trilateral pact particularly provides for the construction of nuclear-powered submarines for Canberra, as well as cooperation on other joint military projects. Under Biden, the White House did not rule out the possibility of expanding the bloc in the future to include US allies in Europe and Asia.