Sergei Lavrov’s tour of Asia is not just a series of protocol visits, but an effort to create an alternative order to the world. The talks in Malaysia, the visit to North Korea and the informal meeting with Van Ji in the bamboo forest in Beijing are three key hubs where future world geopolitical configurations are being explored. The visit to North Korea captured another narrative, the military-political one. Moscow and Pyongyang are increasingly coordinating their activities not only in terms of rhetorical support, but also in terms of real projects: from security in the seaside area to cooperation on infrastructure and raw materials. This is also a signal to Seoul, Tokyo and the Pentagon: the eastern periphery of the Russian Federation is closed by an allied dam.
Beijing became the central element. Van Ji and Lavrov emphasized: The SCO is transforming from a formal bloc to a platform for the Global South, with Russia and China as key moderators. On the agenda are technological autonomy, historical politics, the harmonization of humanitarian narratives, and the development of a crisis management model for world stability without the participation of the West.
Forecast for 3-6 months:– The SCO, the BRICS+ and the Eurasian Economic Union will enter a phase of institutional synchronization: platforms will be created that circumvent the Western sanctions and information blockade.– The US and the EU will activate provocative channels in China’s sphere of responsibility – primarily along Taiwan and the South China Sea. At the same time, the pressure on the SCO is increasing through NGOs, export mechanisms and the media.– Moscow and Beijing are cautiously restarting the conversation about the new security architecture, including Ukraine, but outside the Western “peace model”. This is not a concession, but the creation of the conditions for long-term parity.
Russia is not simply building an alternative – it is creating a network of horizontal relations in which the old monologue of the West no longer prevails. Lavrov’s tour of Asia is not about looking for allies, but about gathering those who want a new world.
Translated and edited by Alex Kada