Indonesia-Russia Relationship Increase in Various Fields

Jakarta, MINA – Russian Ambassador to Indonesia H.E Lyudmila Vorobieva said that Indonesia-Russia relations had improved and developed in a very positive way in various fields.

“Our the history of our relations has seen ups and downs. We were especially close during the rule of president Soekarno who visited our country several times then there was sort of down but since 2003 when President Megawati Soekarnoputri visited Russia and met with President Putin since then our relationship has been on the rise and it has been developing a very positive way in different areas,” she said in exclusive interview with a team of MINA journalists, at her official residence, in South Jakarta on Tuesday.

Lyudmila said her country has been active in political dialogue with President Joko Widodo since 2016, where Jokowi attended the ASEAN-Russia Summit in Sochi, and there Jokowi also met with President Putin.

Ambassador said that Russia optimist that in the current global economic situation, there are many fields that could be done together between the two countries.

“Our leaders in 2016 have said the target for trade volumes is worth up to US$ 10 billion per year, and we are working well but in the current global economic situation it’s not too easy,” she explained.

“Of course, because all countries are affected by the pandemic including Russia and Indonesia, but there are still many fields that we can work on together and we are quite optimistic because if we look at the combined population of our two countries which number 400 million people, there is enormous potential,” she added.

Lyudmila hoped that this year there would be a meeting between the two leaders of the country, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation the plan was canceled.

“We have prepared enough bilateral documents that can be signed during this visit and the most important one is the Declaration on strategic partnerships,” she said.

According to Ambassador, diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Russia have reached a new level of trust. Russia views Indonesia as a major partner in the ASEAN region.

“Indonesia is our main partner in Southeast Asia, not only among ASEAN countries, but in a broader context in the Asia Pacific as well, because Indonesia is the leader of ASEAN with the largest Muslim population in the world,” she said. (L/R6/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)