Sergei Lavrov is currently on a four-day visit to the Philippine capital, Manila, which is hosting an ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), for international talks focused on Southeast Asian nations, and bilateral talks with the host country.
"On the one hand, the need for internal consolidation is obvious, on the other hand, a whole number of states would like to join the ARF," the Russian diplomat said.
He called for closer analysis of the need for a moratorium, which he said was too selective.
ASEAN, a political and economic grouping of 10 countries in the region, was founded in 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Later Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Burma (Myanmar) and Cambodia joined the organization.
The current participants of the ARF are the ASEAN members plus Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, the European Union, India, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Russia, East Timor and the United States.
Lavrov also urged the ARF to boost practical cooperation between its administrative bodies and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional security grouping, and the security forum Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia.
Lavrov reiterated his concerns over the threat of nuclear proliferation in the Asian-Pacific, and at the same time hailed last month's diplomatic success in six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear program, confirming commitments to closing nuclear facilities in the Communist state in exchange for energy aid and economic and diplomatic concessions.
The minister also was upbeat about positive steps in contacts between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, and Iran, whose disputed nuclear program has been a cause of concern for some Western countries, which suspect Tehran of pursuing a nuclear weapons program but which Iran has consistently denied.
