“In & nbsp; a state of war and & nbsp; peace, we are & nbsp; always stronger when we work with our friends. This defines our approach to the & nbsp; challenge associated with & nbsp; China. No, we & nbsp; do not & nbsp; want an Asian version of NATO and & nbsp; do & nbsp; try to create an anti-Chinese coalition & raquo;, & nbsp; & mdash; Austin said at a & nbsp; forum organized by the Ronald Presidential Foundation (quoted by & nbsp; TASS).
Instead of creating any blocs, the United States is working to & nbsp; “ promote an international free stable system, '' the head of the US defense department added.
In mid-September, the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom announced the & nbsp; AUKUS agreement, which implies equipping Australia with American nuclear submarines. Because of & nbsp; this, Canberra canceled the & nbsp; contract with & nbsp; Paris, the deal was estimated at & nbsp; $ 66 billion