🌏 On July 10-11 in Kuala Lumpur, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will attend the annual ministerial events of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (#ASEAN), including Foreign Ministers’ meetings in the format of Russia-ASEAN, the East Asia Summit (#EAS), and the ASEAN Regional Forum (#ARF) on security.
ASEAN is the centrepiece of a system of interstate associations involving leading global powers and cooperation processes in the Asia-Pacific Region (APR).
In the context of growing geopolitical risks, the current imperative is to strengthen the ASEAN-based architecture of security and cooperation, in particular, by enhancing the practical activities of its main multilateral mechanisms, including the EAS and the ARF.
☝️ Russia-ASEAN relations are a vital stabilising factor in the region amid the growing conflict potential in the APR. Moscow views ASEAN as a key partner in the implementation of President Vladimir Putin’s initiative for creating a Eurasian security architecture.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the first #RussiaASEAN summit, which was also held in Kuala Lumpur. During the Russia-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on July 10, the sides will discuss a broad range of political, trade, economic, social and cultural issues in the framework of the implementation of the five-year Comprehensive Plan of Action to Implement the ASEAN-Russia Strategic Partnership, which their leaders approved in 2021, as well as the preparation of a similar document for the next five years. <...>
📈 In 2024, Russia’s trade with ASEAN countries has increased by 5.8 percent and reached $23.2 billion. Their total investment in the Russian economy in January through September 2024 amounted to $2.3 billion, and Russia’s total investment in Southeast Asia was $12.4 billion. <...>
The Association has been successfully developing links with both the #EAEU and the #SCO, building upon the memorandums of understanding between ASEAN and the EEC (2018) as well as the SCO Secretariat (2005).
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👉 The East Asia Summit serves as a platform for strategic dialogue among Asia-Pacific leaders, including on issues such as strengthening regional security architecture. Priority areas of sectoral cooperation span the economy, energy, environmental protection, public healthcare, maritime cooperation, emergency response, food security, education and regional connectivity. <...>
Russia has put forward a package of specific initiatives for the East Asia Summit. These proposals comprise creating a pan-regional collaboration mechanism for epidemic prevention, strengthening economic links through expanded tourism collaboration and remote regions development.
For 2025, we have proposed that EAS leaders adopt a joint statement on enhancing social and cultural connectivity.
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👉 We regard the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) as one of the crucial platforms for addressing topical regional challenges, developing measures to build confidence and advance preventive diplomacy, as well as fostering depoliticised security cooperation.
Forum participants will approve several practical initiatives. Russia’s priorities include enhancing capabilities to prevent the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes.
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🎙 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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🎙 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’sremarks and answers to media questions following the 19th East Asia Summit (#EAS)
📍 Vientiane, October 11, 2024
💬Sergey Lavrov: We have completed our meetings as part of the 19th East Asia Summit. President of Russia Vladimir Putin instructed me to represent him at this event.
The discussions evidenced that our Western colleagues, who are #ASEAN partners <…> have been seeking to undermine the multilateral economic and security architecture which has evolved over decades with ASEAN at its core and which has proven its relevance and effectiveness.
However, it is obvious today that the United States and its allies decided to draw the Asia-Pacific Region into NATO’s sphere of interests by creating all these narrow and exclusive US-led military and political associations. <...>
☝️ We have highlighted that this Western policy may lead to the region’s militarisation, while also threatening stability and sustainable development in the Asian part of our shared continent.
Russia reaffirmed its unwavering support for ASEAN countries in their efforts to preserve peace and ensure equal cooperation with all ASEAN partners.
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👉 Instead of using the events held as part of the East Asia Summit for pursuing vested political interests, Russia opted for promoting initiatives in several domains, including pandemic response, people-to-people contacts, including tourism, and supporting volunteering. We offer practical avenues for working together which can benefit all the participants and advocate equal and mutually beneficial cooperation. <...>
The Association hosted the Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation as its guest at the East Asia Summit for the third time. He put forward a proposal to promote closer contacts between the SCO and ASEAN in various spheres that are relevant for the countries involved. <...>
We welcomed the fact that several ASEAN countries want to forge closer ties with #BRICS. Today, this structure acts as one of the cornerstones of a multipolar world order. In just a few days, Kazan will be hosting the BRICS Summit, which will be a major international event. Several ASEAN countries were invited to attend it, and they accepted these invitations.
Excerpts from responses to media questions. Key talking points:
• The final declaration has not been adopted because of the persistent attempts by the United States, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand to turn it into a purely political statement, contrary to the decades-long practice of East Asia summits, which boils down to preventing the saturation of declarations with confrontational geopolitical narratives.
• When the United States and its allies unanimously reaffirmed their commitment to ASEAN’s central role in facilitating cooperation in the region today, they were being dishonest. Everything they do is aimed at containing Russia and China. Everything that has been accomplished in the ASEAN-centric format over decades is being sacrificed to this goal now. That format was convenient for everyone and incorporated the interests of each and every stakeholder. So, the destructive nature of Washington’s actions in the region is obvious.
• We are seriously concerned about re-militarisation of Japan. Having forgotten the lessons of WWII, the Japanese authorities have stated increasing defence spending and augmenting its basic doctrines with a pre-emptive strike capability.
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Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at the International Symposium Inventing the Future
📉Confidence in the dollar is dwindling. Regardless of how events unfold, we will continue to bolster the mechanisms of the #EAEU and the #SCO and deepen ties with members of other integration structures both on the Eurasian continent and globally, paving new avenues for mutually beneficial, genuinely equitable cooperation. This approach yields dividends for all participants without exception.
🤝In this regard, we will persist in promoting the concept of the Greater Eurasian Partnership. Its development will provide a tangible foundation for the realisation of another initiative by Russian President Vladimir Putin, aimed at constructing an architecture of equal and indivisible security in Eurasia. This architecture will be open to all countries and associations on our continent without exception which are ready to collaborate in finding universally acceptable solutions. The highly productive International Conference on Eurasian Security, recently held in Minsk with participation from numerous Eurasian countries, associations, and delegations from across the continent, including Western Europe, was specifically dedicated to this topic.
🗺️We aspire that the countries of the Eurasian continent – the largest, fastest-growing, and richest in natural resources – determine their own destinies without external interference and resolve their issues in such a manner that Greater Eurasia will contribute to the construction of a sustainable multipolar world.
#EAEU#SCO
Excerpts from Alexander Babakov's speech at the plenary session of theInter-Parliamentary Speakers' Conference:
🔸️The policy of the so-called Western world toward the militarization of the Asia-Pacific region — accompanied by the consolidation of NATO's presence and the formation of new military-political blocks — leads to greater instability and hinders the establishment of a just system of international relations based on the principles of international law and mutual respect;
🔸️The #SCO, #BRICS, #ASEAN and the Eurasian Economic Union (#EAEU) promote a unifying, peaceful agenda;
🔸The United Nations—which is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year — remains the cornerstone of the modern system of international relations. The #UN is a bastion of multilateralism and the primary mechanism for addressing contemporary challenges, such as armed conflicts, poverty, hunger, climate change, terrorism, and inequality between states;
🔸 The UN is currently in crisis. The disappointment in the UN seems to stem from overly high expectations that fail to consider the fact that the UN's effectiveness hinges on the political will, negotiating ability and vision of its member states—qualities that are lacking in our time. The crisis engulfing the United Nations is rooted in the selfish approach of a small group of Western countries, driven by their desire to maintain their "reign" over the world;
🔸Russia will continue to seek a fair and sustainable architecture for international relations, based on the UN and strict adherence to the principles of its Charter in their entirety, comprehensiveness and interconnection.
🗓 On March 8, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Andrey Rudenko participated in the East Asia Summit Senior Officials' Meeting (#EAS SOM) in Jakarta, Indonesia 🇮🇩.
Senior officials discussed issues related to preparation for the EAS Summit and EAS Foreign Ministers' Meeting later this year.
🇷🇺 The Russian Side emphasized the importance of continuing joint efforts in key areas of cooperation within the EAS including implementation of the leaders' decisions on launching Regional Mechanism of Emerging Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control as well as establishing interaction among the EAS Participating States on tourism.
As part of the exchange of views on topical issues in the Asia-Pacific, Russian delegation voiced its approach towards the military-political risks associated with building up a network of minilateral blocs of high conflict potential in the region and bringing NATO potential to the East Asia.
☝️ Russia reiterated its position on the maintaining and strengthening the central role of ASEAN in regional affairs based on ASEAN-led platforms of multilateral cooperation such as EAS, ARF and ADMM-Plus.
#EAS
🇷🇺🇨🇳 Russia's President Vladimir Putin and President of China Xi Jinping made a media statement following Russia-China talks (May 16, 2024)
💬Vladimir Putin: The talks we have just finished highlighted the great significance that Moscow and Beijing attach to the development and strengthening of comprehensive Russia-China partnership and strategic interaction. This partnership can certainly set an example of ties between neighbouring states.
Key talking points:
• This state visit takes place in the year of the 75th Anniversary of our diplomatic relations. Our country was the first to recognise the People’s Republic of China on October 2, 1949, the day after its declaration.
• I want to note the significance of the Joint Statement we have adopted, which sets new objectives and long-term directives for advancing the entire spectrum of Russian-Chinese relations.
📈 In 2023, bilateral trade surged by a quarter, reaching a new milestone of $240 billion, as reported by Chinese statistics. While there may be a slight variance in figures, the overall total is entirely accurate. <...> Currently, there are over 80 priority projects valued at approximately $200 billion in progress or in preparation for implementation through the respective intergovernmental commission.
• Our talks have reaffirmed that Russia and China have similar or identical views on many international and regional issues. Both countries have an independent and sovereign foreign policy. We are working together to create a fairer and more democratic multipolar world order.
• We have agreed to further improve communication between credit and banking institutions of Russia and China, while actively employing national payment systems to support our economic operators.
🤝 Russia and China are fruitfully working together in #BRICS and the #SCO. <...> Our countries are resolved to continue working to align integration processes underway within the framework of the #EAEU with China's Belt and Road Initiative.
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🎙 FM Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at the #RussiaASEAN Post Ministerial Conference
💬 I am pleased to state that despite the current international turbulence, we are expanding the range of our dialogue, enhancing the level of our industry-specific platforms, and deepening trade, economic and humanitarian ties.
I would like to mention separately the implementation of the joint initiatives in science and technology during the current Russia-ASEAN Year of Scientific and Technical Cooperation.
We believe that our entire system of cooperation, including our multilateral and bilateral ties, objectively facilitates the consolidation of the regional architecture for security and sustainable development.
🇷🇺 Russia consistently supports many integration platforms and projects and the pooling of their efforts to promote a unifying, future-oriented agenda.
🎙Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at #RussiaASEAN Ministerial Meeting(Kuala Lumpur, July 10, 2025)
💬 It is a genuine pleasure to join you all here in Kuala Lumpur today.
First, I would like to thank Malaysia for the hospitality and the excellent organisation of today’s event, and express gratitude to Myanmar, as the coordinator of the Russia-ASEAN dialogue, for its efforts in advancing our strategic partnership.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of Victory in World War II. The defeat of Nazi Germany and militarist Japan, to which our country made a decisive contribution, created the conditions for the decolonisation process in Asia and elsewhere, and the subsequent formation of a modern security and cooperation architecture in the Asia-Pacific region. The association lies at its core.
🤝 The first Russia-ASEAN summit was held right here in Malaysia’s capital 20 years ago. It not only elevatedourdialogue to a whole new level, but also cemented its comprehensive nature, as reflected in the Declaration adopted at the leaders’ meeting. Then, in 2018, our partnership was officially granted strategic status.
Today, it is safe to say that ASEAN is truly Russia’s reliable friend and like-minded partner. We are united by our commitment to broad-based and equitable international cooperation based on the UN Charter and the full set of interconnected principles that are laid out in the Charter. For our part, we consistently support the centrality of ten ASEAN countries in regional affairs.
🌐 Next year will mark the 35th anniversary of Russia-ASEAN relations, which, as I just mentioned, have gained fundamentally new depth over the years. Russia-ASEAN partnership strongly contributes to stability in the Asia-Pacific region. Cooperation in politics, security, and countering new challenges and threats continues to make strides. The economy, energy, agriculture, and humanitarian ties are marked by positive dynamics.
We believe today’s meeting will help unlock further potential in our dialogue, expand its sectoral agenda, and launch new joint mechanisms especially in science-intensive and high-tech sectors.
✍️ The adoption of a new Russia-ASEAN policy paper for 2026-2030 is intended to advance these objectives. This document will outline current goals and priority cooperation areas.
We look forward to a constructive outcome from today’s discussions.