Indonesia’s Prabowo pledges to strengthen ties with Russia

[MOSCOW] Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto pledged to strengthen relations with Russia at a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Ties between the two nations are developing “extremely actively,” he said in St Petersburg at the start of their talks on Thursday (Jun 19). 

Putin highlighted “large and growing cooperation” in space, energy, agriculture and defence. “We have an opportunity to talk in depth about the whole range of ties,” the Russian president said. 

Prabowo’s visit, coming as he passed up an invitation to attend the Group of Seven summit in Canada, is his first state trip to Russia since taking office last year. He will also speak on Friday at Putin’s flagship St Petersburg International Economic Forum, where he’s expected to court investment and signal the country’s continued engagement with non-Western partners.

Prabowo has been seeking to deepen ties with Russia. As defence minister and president-elect last year, he met Putin in Moscow and called for stronger cooperation. Since his presidency began, the two countries held their first joint naval exercises, and the head of Russia’s Security Council, Sergei Shoigu, visited Jakarta to discuss military cooperation, marking one of the most senior Russian visits to South-east Asia since Moscow began its war in Ukraine in 2022.

Prabowo’s visit also follows Indonesia’s entry into the Brics group of economies earlier this year, highlighting his push to diversify Indonesia’s partnerships. BLOOMBERG