Russia is looking forward to exploring new avenues of cooperation with Southeast Asia during Malaysia's upcoming chairmanship of ASEAN, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated at the start of talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
"We place great importance on developing our relations with Southeast Asia," Putin remarked. "Next year, as I understand, Malaysia will assume the ASEAN chairmanship," he noted, adding, "We are hopeful that your leadership will help us identify new areas of cooperation with this rapidly growing, promising region."
Putin also mentioned the upcoming plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) on Thursday, where this meeting is taking place. "I am confident that this will be a productive event, fostering closer economic ties across the region," he said. "I am hopeful that through this work, we will find new ways to expand our cooperation," he concluded.
Before their discussions, Putin and Ibrahim introduced their respective delegations. The Russian delegation included Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov, Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov, and Deputy Heads of the Presidential Administration Maxim Oreshkin and Dmitry Peskov.
Peskov has previously noted the significant potential in Russia-Malaysia relations, which remains partially untapped. Ahead of this visit, Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry indicated that Kuala Lumpur intended to discuss cooperation in tourism and space exploration and expressed interest in joining BRICS.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS