Russia aims to strengthen cooperation with Indonesia, ASEAN

Other than commerce ties, Russia-Indonesia bilateral cooperation is also developing dynamically in the field of politics and security, military and military-technical cooperation, as well as between judicial and law enforcement agencies.

Russia has highlighted the significant progress achieved with both Indonesia and ASEAN as the solid foundation for its steady advancement of bilateral relations in the foreseeable future.

“Established 76 years ago, Russian-Indonesian relations have a distinguished history, including my country’s contribution to safeguarding of Indonesia’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Russian Ambassador to Jakarta Sergey Tolchenov told attendees of a diplomatic reception to commemorate Russia Day on June 29.

“The Declaration on Strategic Partnership adopted by the leaders of our two countries last year lays a solid foundation for the steady advancement of bilateral ties in the foreseeable future. Over the past year, we have achieved significant progress.”

Russia Day is celebrated on June 12 to commemorate the adoption of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) on June 12, 1990.

The declaration proclaimed the sovereignty of the Russian SFSR and the intention to establish a democratic constitutional state within a liberalized Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was then eventually dissolved formally on Dec. 26, 1991, and emerged the Russian Federation.

He added that the Russian-Indonesian Joint Commission on Trade, Economic and Technical Cooperation played an important coordinating role to strengthen bilateral ties.

The joint commission is cochaired by Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Madurov and Coordinating Economy Minister Erlangga Hartarto.

“I am confident that in the near future we will be able to move towards the practical implementation of the agreements reached at the latest Commission meeting that has been held in Kazan this May,” the ambassador said.

“Both bilaterally and within the framework of the EEU-Indonesia Free Trade Agreement signed in St. Petersburg in December 2025.”

EEU is the Eurasian Economic Union with member countries consisting of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia. Meanwhile, Cuba, Iran, Moldova and Uzbekistan hold the status as observers.

Attending the diplomatic reception were Airlangga, Culture Minister Fadli Zon, who has a degree in Russian literature, Transmigration Minister Iftitah Sulaiman Suryanegera, Tourism Minister Widiyanti Putri Wardhana, Environment Minister Jumhur Hidayat and Regional Representatives Council Speaker Sultan Bachtiar Najamuddin.

Tolchenov pointed to growing mutual trade between both countries while business circles were showing increasing interest in establishing direct ties in the fields of energy, maritime transportation, shipbuilding, chemicals and fertilizers, agriculture, ICT, pharmaceuticals, tourism, education and culture.

Other than commerce, Tolchenov said cooperation was also developing dynamically in the field of politics and security, military and military-technical cooperation, as well as between judicial and law enforcement agencies.

“This enables us to jointly counter the threats of terrorism, drug trafficking and ICT-related crimes,” he said.

Meanwhile, Russian Ambassador to ASEAN, Evgeny Zagaynov, said that this year was also the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-Russia relations with close relations were confirmed during the ASEAN-Russia Commemorative Summit on June 18 in Kazan.

“One of the key outcomes of the summit was the Kazan Declaration that reaffirmed the common aspiration of ASEAN and Russia towards a just multipolar world as well as our friendship, mutual trust and respect,” he told attendees.

“It provided for the unwavering support to ASEAN centrality and fixed the shared vision of a peaceful, stable and secure future of the wider Asia-Pacific, the Indian Ocean and Eurasian region.”

Comprehensive partnership

Airlangga said that Indonesia and Russia had established a strong and comprehensive partnership across various fields, including political dialogue, economic cooperation, trade and investment, energy, defense, education, science and technology, as well as cultural exchange.

“We believe that the strong institutional cooperation, supported by active engagement between government and business communities, will continue to serve as an important foundation for our economic partnership,” he said in his speech.

Airlangga said that the bilateral trade in 2025 reached close to US$5 billion, reflecting the steady growth in recent years, as well as increasing investment cooperation.

He also welcomed the increasing people-to-people connectivity between the two countries, including the growing number of Russian tourists visiting Indonesia, and the establishment of direct air connectivity between Moscow and Denpasar in Bali that is now three times in a week.

“There is a discussion to also have Siberia to Denpasar direct flight,” he said.

“Future collaboration could strongly support Indonesia economic transformation, especially in industrial development, downstream industry, infrastructure and energy security, digital transformation, AI technology, food security, and sustainable development.”

He added that the signing of the Indonesian-EEU Free Trade Agreement represented an important milestone for economic cooperation of both parties.

“The agreement would enhance market, facilitate trade, and greater engagement between businesses in Indonesia and EEU including in Russia,” he said.

Source: Asianews