🗓 On July 26 and 27, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will attend annual ministerial events held by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (#ASEAN) in Vientiane. He will take part in foreign ministers’ meetings in the Russia-ASEAN format, as well as within the East Asia Summit (#EAS) and the ASEAN Regional Forum (#ARF).

🌏 ASEAN is currently one of the most successful regional organisations which forms the core of the integration processes in the Asia-Pacific Region. The association has created a solid network of interstate institutions involving the leading world powers, including Russia.

This year, Russia marks 20 years of joining the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (the Bali Treaty). Signed in 1976, it is one of the fundamental documents for ASEAN in terms of ensuring regional peace and stability. Geopolitical tension has been escalating in Asia-Pacific, and against this backdrop our relations with ASEAN serve as an important stabilising factor in the region.

❗️ Russia views ASEAN as one of the key partners in the context of carrying out the initiative to build a Eurasian security architecture as set forth by President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.

The agenda of the July 26 #RussiaASEAN ministerial meeting covers cooperation matters in all their aspects, including politics, trade and economics, as well as social and cultural affairs within the framework of the five-year Comprehensive Plan of Action to Implement the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Russian Federation Strategic Partnership, as approved by the leaders in 2021.

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📈 In 2023, Russia’s trade with ASEAN countries increased by 14.6 percent to almost $22 billion. Accumulated investment by ASEAN countries in the Russian economy reached $3.5 billion in the first nine months of 2023, while Russia invested a total of $11.5 billion in Southeast Asia.

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Russia has coined a range of #EAS initiatives. They include creating a mechanism of pan-regional cooperation on countering epidemics and restoring economic potential by stimulating tourism. ASEAN has supported our idea of strengthening the resource of civic responsibility by improving cooperation between volunteer movements.

We consider the #ARF as one of the key platforms for discussing topical issues of the regional agenda, developing measures of mutual trust and preventive diplomacy, and boosting non-politicised practical cooperation in security.

During the forum’s 31st session on July 27, we will thoroughly discuss countering new threats and challenges, combating terrorism and transnational crime, disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and ensuring security at sea. We will summarise the results of #RussiaIndonesia co-chairmanship in the Russia-ASEAN Forum on the Safe Use of Information and Communication Technologies in 2022-2024.

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🤝 Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov takes part in the East Asia Summit (#EAS) Ministerial Meeting

📍 Vientiane, July 27, 2024

#RussiaEAS

🎙 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s answers to media questions following his visit to Malaysia

📍 Kuala Lumpur, July 28, 2024

❓Question: The US has been obsessively trying to create another training ground out of countries in the southeast. Is it relevant to say that cooperation between Russia and Asia can help the region maintain its sovereignty?

💬 Sergey Lavrov: Of course. I think we had a chance to see it for ourselves yesterday and the day before in Laos during the East Asia Summit (#EAS) and the ASEAN Regional Forum (#ARF).

Russia is seen as a balancing and stabilising factor in the context of countering the extremely sharp-elbowed actions by the countries outside the region, led by the US, who push their military infrastructure, including strategic arms. <...>

Our balanced and clear stance always comes from the need to create platforms for negotiations and to agree on the basis of a balance of interests. This stance receives respect. Certainly, in contrast to the invasive and aggressive course of the US and NATO for military development of the region, our stance is closer to our #ASEAN friends.

❓ Question: Last night saw another escalation in the Middle East, namely a missile attack on a football ground in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in which mostly children and teenagers were killed and injured. Israel has accused Lebanon, while Lebanon has put the blame on Israel. What is the likelihood of an all-out war between Israel and Lebanon? What could be done to prevent further bloodshed?

💬 Sergey Lavrov: So far, we do not see any possibility of stopping the bloodshed. In response to numerous calls for a ceasefire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that Israel will not stop until it destroys Hamas completely. I believe, and many of my colleagues share this view, that the destruction of that organisation, which has significant capabilities and enjoys broad support, including in the Muslim world, is an unrealistic task.

Russia condemns all terrorist attacks committed by any group. We condemned Hamas’s terrorist attack on Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023. But Israel’s retaliatory actions have been unacceptable. They are a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and amount to collective punishment of people, which international conventions prohibit. <...>

I am sure that the main condition for a lasting solution to the Middle East crisis is the fulfilment of the UN Security Council resolution on the establishment of a Palestinian state as soon as possible. This cannot be achieved without restoring Palestinian unity so that the Palestinians themselves can determine the format of negotiations regarding their life in a sovereign state. This goal has not yet been achieved. Efforts must continue towards this end.

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🎙 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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🗓 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