Russian leader Vladimir Putin has begun talks in the Kremlin with Indonesian Defense Minister and President-elect Prabowo Subianto, who is visiting Moscow.
Putin recalled that Subianto is a long-time friend of Russia. "I know that you have very good relations with your Russian counterparts," the president pointed out, assessing Subianto’s work as Indonesia's top defense official.
The talks with a limited circle of delegates are taking place in the Green Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace. The Russian delegation is represented by Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov. After this meeting, the talks will continue in a working breakfast format. They will be held behind closed doors, with no reporters allowed to cover them.
Subianto won the February presidential election and will take office in October. He now holds the post of Indonesia's top defense official, while Joko Widodo remains Indonesia's acting president.
Prabowo arrived in Moscow on Tuesday night and was greeted by Indonesian Ambassador to Russia Antonio Morato Tavares, Military Attache Rear Admiral Jatmiko Adi and Russian foreign ministry official Aleksander Vladimirovich Prusov.
The visit to Moscow will wrap up Prabowo's European tour after his sojourn to Serbia, Turkey and France.
Observers view Prabowo’s itinerary as an attempt to reassert Indonesia’s free and active foreign policy, with the government continuing to align itself with developing countries across the globe.
During his five-day trip to France, Prabowo met with French President Emmanuel Macron and a group of the country’s business executives.
He then went to Belgrade on Monday to meet with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.
“We consider Russia as a real friend,” Prabowo, a former general who is currently defense minister, said Wednesday in televised remarks. “I would like to continue to maintain and enhance” the close relationship between the two countries, he said.
Prabowo also met with Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov. The visit is intended to “strengthen bilateral relations between Indonesia and Russia and enhance cooperation, especially in the defense sector,” the defense ministry in Jakarta said.
Both Putin and Prabowo noted historically close ties since the Soviet Union built up relations with the Southeast Asian country early in the Cold War, though Indonesia later tilted to the US. “Indonesia and Russia have had friendly relations for decades,” said Putin.
Prabowo’s first visit to the Kremlin as president-elect comes on a trip to Europe in which he met French President Emmanuel Macron, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. All of those meetings were aimed at boosting defense links, the ministry said.
Earlier this year, Prabowo also traveled to China to meet President Xi Jinping in his first visit since winning February’s Indonesian election. He went on to visit Japan — a key US ally — in a sign that Prabowo intends to continue his predecessor’s middle-of-the-road strategy in navigating the US-China rivalry.
His visit to the Kremlin comes after Prabowo last month criticized Russia’s absence from a peace summit backed by Ukraine.
“Many countries feel that in a peace summit all elements must be present, especially Russia,” Prabowo said after discussing his country’s cease-fire proposals at the summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
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