Remarks of the President of the Republic of Indonesia and the President of the Russian Federation at the Tête-à-Tête Meeting at Constantine Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, 19 June 2025

President of the Russian Federation (Vladimir Putin)

Your Excellency, Mr. President,

I am very glad to meet you here in St. Petersburg. We previously met in Moscow before your inauguration last year. Today, we have the opportunity to discuss bilateral issues in greater detail.

Tomorrow, we will participate in the plenary session of SPIEF, the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. You will be the guest of honor there. It is a very good and effective platform, annually held and attended by various entrepreneurs, experts, and politicians.

Relations between Russia and Indonesia are consistently developing, and our trade volume is increasing. We have many further prospects in various fields, including agriculture, space exploration, energy, and cooperation in military and technical sectors. We have many opportunities for collaboration and still much capacity to grow.

Indonesia has become a full member of BRICS, and I hope Indonesia will make a significant contribution to the organization’s activities.

We are very pleased to meet with you here.

Welcome.

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Prabowo Subianto)

Thank you, Your Excellency President Putin.

I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation for today’s invitation and the warm welcome extended to me and my delegation.

I also thank you again—before I was inaugurated last year, I was welcomed here, and this is now my official visit as President of the Republic of Indonesia. I also thank you for sending a senior envoy to attend my inauguration.

I am also very grateful that Russia supported Indonesia in becoming a full member of BRICS in such a short time. I truly wished to attend the BRICS Summit in Kazan in person, but at that time I had just been inaugurated a day prior, and I had to appoint my cabinet.

Since then, our relations have continued to grow. Senior Russian officials have been visiting regularly. I have met with Deputy Prime Minister Manturov—twice this year, in Jakarta and in St. Petersburg. My Foreign Minister has visited Russia three times—within less than a year. So, our relationship continues to strengthen.

I have followed the progress in many areas—our economy is improving, economic relations are growing, and cooperation in many fields is going very well. Our participation in the Eurasian Free Trade Area is also proceeding very well.

Thank you, President Putin, for the significant progress in our relations. And thank you for inviting me as the guest of honor at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum.

(RI/MUR)