Prabowo’s meeting with Putin underscores Indonesia’s ‘friend to all’ foreign policy

The Indonesian defence minister met with Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow on Wednesday following his visits to France, Serbia and Turkey earlier in the week.

The leaders were reported to have discussed plans for Indonesia and Russia to strengthen their strategic partnership and cooperation in defence, energy and education.

According to Russian state news agency TASS, Putin said trade between Indonesia and Russia had doubled in recent years despite the West’s sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

Putin also announced that a free-trade agreement between Indonesia and the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union was almost completed. Apart from Indonesia and Russia, the economic bloc includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.

Figures from Jakarta show Indonesia’s bilateral trade with Russia grew from US$2.7 billion in 2021 to US$3.6 billion in 2022 before falling to US$3.3 billion in 2023.

“Indonesia, with a population of almost 300 million, is in Russia’s interest,” Putin said. “We will increase agricultural exports and implement our energy, transport and infrastructure projects in your country.”

According to Ahmad Rizky Umar, a lecturer at the School of Political Science and International Studies at Australia’s University of Queensland, Prabowo’s meeting with Putin shows he is laying the groundwork for his “good neighbour policy” by showing he is neutral and wants to cooperate with as many countries as possible.

“Given that Indonesia has advanced its strategic partnership with the United States and Australia, and given Indonesia’s independent and active foreign policy doctrine, it’s logical to have advancement on bilateral relations with Russia as well,” Umar said.

Since winning Indonesia’s general election