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Russia and Indonesia took steps on Tuesday to strengthen their defense ties with a meeting between a top Russian security official and Indonesia’s defense minister in the capital of Jakarta as Moscow‘s war on Ukraine entered its fourth year.
Ahead of the visit by Sergei Shoigu, secretary of the Russian Federation Security Council, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti said he would discuss ways to deepen a defense partnership with Indonesia’s Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin.
The two officials would also discuss “cooperation in other areas of mutual interest,” the agency said, citing a Russian government statement.
Shoigu’s visit, the first stop in a five-day Asia tour that also includes Malaysia, comes after Indonesia — the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country and Southeast Asia’s largest economy — was admitted as full member to the BRICS bloc of developing economies, an alliance where Russia is one of the founding members.
After meeting Sjamsoeddin, will also pay a courtesy call on Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto before departing for Malaysia on Wednesday.
Indonesian officials said ahead of Shoigu’s arrival that the sides would exchange views on international and regional issues as Russia hopes to deepen its defense engagement with Southeast Asia countries.
Subianto, who has made strengthening Indonesia’s military a priority, wants to buy submarines, frigates and fighter jets, and step up defense cooperation with other countries. Last August, as the country’s president-elect, he met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin.
Indonesia has sought to maintain a neutral position since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
Subianto’s predecessor, Joko Widodo, was the first Asian leader who visited both Moscow and Kyiv in July 2022, hoping to push for a cease-fire.
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Associated Press writer Emma Burrows in London contributed to this report.