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Russia offers vaccine cooperation, assures Indonesia on Myanmar coup crisis
Russian top diplomat Sergey Lavrov met Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi for a bilateral meeting in Jakarta, where they discussed cooperation in the health, economic, education and security sectors, as well as touching on broader issues such as the Myanmar coup and contestations in the Indo-Pacific region.
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Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov briefs journalists during a press conference following a meeting with his Indonesian counterpart in Jakarta on July 6, 2021. (AFP/Handout)
T
he Kremlin has expressed its intention to explore COVID-19 vaccine cooperation and produce vaccines in Indonesia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday during the top diplomat’s visit to Indonesia.
Lavrov met Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi for a bilateral meeting in Jakarta, where they discussed cooperation in the health, economic, education and security sectors.
Both sides are also preparing for the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin, which has been in the works since 2018 and is pegged as a reciprocal gesture to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s trip to Russia in 2016.
“We hope that during the visit by President Putin, both countries can sign the agreement on strategic partnership between Indonesia and Russia. This agreement will create a new and strong foundation to elevate the two countries’ relations,” Retno said during a joint statement on Tuesday.
Read also: Indonesia, Russia soon to actualize cooperation on COVID-19 handling
The ministers discussed at length the cooperation in fighting soaring cases of COVID-19 exacerbated by the more transmissible mutations. Both countries are witnessing “second waves” of infections with more than 20,000 new daily cases recorded over the last few weeks.
On Tuesday, Indonesia reported 31,189 new cases and 728 deaths, breaking records for seven consecutive days. Meanwhile, Russia reported 23,895 cases on Monday.
