[JAKARTA] Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto will meet counterpart Vladimir Putin this month on his first visit to Russia since taking office, officials said on Thursday (Jun 12), as South-east Asia’s biggest economy seeks to boost ties with Moscow.
Jakarta maintains a neutral foreign policy, refusing to take sides in the Ukraine conflict or in the competition between Washington and Beijing, but Prabowo has touted stronger relations with Moscow.
He will visit Russia from June 18-20 to hold talks with Putin and attend an economic forum in Saint Petersburg, where he will deliver a speech, foreign ministry spokesman Rolliansyah Soemirat told reporters.
“The president and a limited number of delegates are scheduled to visit St Petersburg, Russia, on June 18-20. This visit is to fulfil the invitation from the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, to a bilateral meeting,” Rolliansyah said.
“The bilateral meeting is expected to discuss the development of bilateral cooperation, as well as a discussion between leaders on the regional and global issues that become a common concern,” he said.
Prabowo will visit Singapore on Monday to attend a leaders’ retreat, where he will meet the country’s prime minister and president, before flying to Russia, Rolliansyah said.
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Presidential spokesman Philips Vermonte also confirmed the planned trips to AFP.
Prabowo visited Putin in Moscow last year before being inaugurated as Indonesia’s new president in October, calling Russia a “great friend”.
The two nations held their first joint naval drills on Java island in November and Prabowo later hosted top Russian security official Sergei Shoigu for talks in the capital Jakarta.
Prabowo has pledged to be bolder on the world stage compared with his predecessor Joko Widodo.
Jakarta has billion-dollar trade ties with Moscow, yet major arms imports have stalled in recent years after Russia seized Crimea in 2014 and launched its full-scale military offensive on Ukraine in 2022.
However, since becoming defence minister in 2019, Prabowo has kept alive a US$1.1 billion Russian fighter jet deal agreed a year earlier, despite the reported threat of US sanctions. AFP
