🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks and answers to media questions following the Russia-ASEAN conference and the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (Vientiane, July 27 2024)

💬 We have been working in the capital of Laos for two days. This year, this country chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (#ASEAN).

The annual #RussiaASEAN Foreign Ministers’ meeting took place on July 26, 2024. During the meeting, we reviewed our cooperation in all aspects in a trust-based, specific and business-like manner, and went on to adopt a Joint Statement on the 20th Anniversary of Russia’s accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (the Bali Treaty).

The Joint Statement sets forth the principles of equality, mutual benefit, taking into consideration each other’s interests and achieving a balance of interests. We expressed our shared view that these principles remain fully valid and relevant, especially today, considering the attempts to introduce a bloc-based mindset in the Asia-Pacific Region and create all kinds of exclusive mechanisms there, while also enabling NATO with its infrastructure to gain a foothold in this region. This runs counter to the objective of reinforcing an ASEAN-centric security architecture. Shaped by decades of continuous efforts, it meets the interests of all participants.

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We carried out a performance review under the Comprehensive Plan of Action to Implement the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Russian Federation Strategic Partnership in 2021-2025.

🌐 The coordination of documents on digital transformation is nearing completion. In 2024, Russia has become ASEAN’s digital partner. And the drafting of joint documents on countering terrorism and the safe use of information and communications technology is in its final stage. These domains are of utmost importance. In fact, it was largely Russia that initiated these joint plans with ASEAN to work on this agenda.

The East Asia Summit (#EAS) and the ASEAN Regional Forum (#ARF) are scheduled to take place today at the foreign ministers’ level. These two formats offer an opportunity to emphasise the contrasts between the trends that have been taking shape within the ASEAN-centric architecture over the past decades, with the developments the West is trying to introduce in this region by seeking to accelerate its militarisation, setting up restricted military and political blocs, deploying new weapons and escalating confrontation in general.

☝️ The ASEAN-centric architecture implies an inclusive vision. The EAS and the ARF bring together ASEAN and its major partners, such as China, Russia, Japan, South Korea and Western countries. On the other hand, the West promotes cooperation formats which are less inclusive with a clear objective of containing China and Russia.

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🇷🇺🇮🇩 President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin held talks at the Kremlin with President-elect and Defence Minister of the Republic of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto, who has come to Russia on a working visit.

💬 Vladimir Putin: We know you as a good friend of our country. You are not only respected in Indonesia as a prominent military leader but also as a political figure. You have held the post of defence minister for many years. I know that you have developed very good relations with your Russian colleagues.

🤝 Russia and Indonesia share a long-standing friendship that began decades ago. Next year, we will mark 75 years of diplomatic relations between our countries.

📈 I would like to note that our trade and economic ties have been developing very well recently. Despite the pandemic and the current developments around Russia, including associated restrictions, our trade has been growing. It has doubled over the past years. This is a very positive trend, which makes us happy. I hope that it will persist.

We also hope that the draft agreement on the EAEU-Indonesia free trade zone, which is ready for signing, will play a positive and substantial role in the development of our trade and economic ties. <...>

We are ready to further increase agricultural deliveries and implement investment projects in energy, transport and infrastructure. It is the responsibility of our intergovernmental commission. <...>.

We also continue to cooperate in the humanitarian sphere. As per tradition, Indonesian students receive education in Russia, including on scholarships funded by the Russian budget, and we are ready to continue doing this. The Russian Centre for Science and Culture is operating in Jakarta. We would like to express our gratitude for supporting its work.

🌐 Last but not least, we also coordinate our positions on the international stage, including and primarily within #ASEAN.

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#RussiaIndonesia

#ASEAN turns 5️⃣7️⃣!

🎉 We extend our sincere greetings to ASEAN partners and friends, wishing them prosperity and well-being for the years to come!

🤝 Russia 🇷🇺 is committed to further enhancing multifaceted cooperation with ASEAN in various fields and will continue to contribute to promoting prosperity of the people of the region.

Happy ASEAN Day! 🥳

#ASEAN57

🗓 Every year on August 8, the ten member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (#ASEAN) mark ASEAN Day. This date was approved by the ASEAN Standing Committee at its annual meeting in May 2005.

🌏 ASEAN was founded in Bangkok on August 8, 1967, by Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines, which signed the so-called Bangkok Declaration. Later, this regional organisation was joined by Brunei (1984), Vietnam (1995), Laos and Myanmar (1997), and Cambodia (1999).

ASEAN is one of the most successful regional organisations. It has a broad network of various intergovernmental associations involving Russia and other leading world powers: the East Asia Summit (#EAS), ASEAN Regional Forum (#ARF), and ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting-Plus (#ADMMPlus).

☝️ Promoting ties with ASEAN is Russia’s key foreign policy priority in Asia. The Russian Permanent Mission to ASEAN has been based in Jakarta since 2017. In 2018, Russia-ASEAN relations reached the level of strategic partnership, resulting in closer coordination on current global and regional issues with the ten member countries at leading multilateral venues, including the UN.

🤝 On July 26 and 27, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attended annual ministerial events held by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Vientiane. He took part in Foreign Ministers’ meetings in the Russia-ASEAN format, as well as within the East Asia Summit and the ASEAN Regional Forum.

💬 President Vladimir Putin at the Russia-ASEAN Summit (October 28, 2021): "Strengthening ties with ASEAN and its member states has always been and remains one of Russia's foreign policy priorities. <...> I would like to point out that the positions of Russia and the ASEAN states on key global and regional matters are similar in many respects. Most importantly, we all support the expansion of equal and mutually beneficial cooperation in the vast Asia-Pacific space."

#RussiaASEAN