VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi and her Russian counterpart, Minister Sergey Lavrov co-chaired the ASEAN-Russia Special Ministerial Meeting held virtually on July 6, 2021. The meeting discussed the strategic partnership between ASEAN and Russia, which this year is entering its 25th year. Minister Retno Marsudi presented two main issues at the meeting. The first issue is about cooperation in handling the Covid-19 pandemic. Minister Retno Marsudi encourages Russia to support the fulfillment of vaccine needs in the region through dose-sharing, and prioritizes ASEAN countries as Russian vaccine recipients and explores the possibility of joint-production with ASEAN Member countries. She also called for ASEAN and Russia to jointly strengthen support for the COVAX Facility, negotiations on the TRIPS Waiver and equality of recognition for vaccines.

The second issue is related to regional architecture. Minister Retno saw the similarities in the principles of the Russian Vision regarding regional architecture and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo Pacific (AOIP), which are becoming increasingly relevant during the Covid-19 pandemic. Indonesia also called for Russia to support ASEAN centrality and efforts to overcome the situation in Myanmar.

Regarding Russia's proposal to hold the Russia-ASEAN High Level Meeting in October 2021, Minister Retno Marsudi emphasized that the summit must be a momentum to strengthen ASEAN and Russia's partnership to overcome various challenges and also increase Russia's contribution in the region.

The meeting, which was held to encourage Russia's commitment and active role in the Southeast Asian region, has produced an outcome document in the form of a Co-chairs Summary. The point is to agree on accelerating the post-pandemic recovery process, including reducing socio-economic impacts, restoring macroeconomic and financial stability, supply chain, connectivity and strengthening environmental resilience.

The meeting also agreed on a plan to hold the ASEAN-Russia Summit in October 2021. The meeting also agreed on various collaborations in various fields, including maritime security, information and communication technology security, disaster management, and counterterrorism and trans-boundary crime.