Prabowo's decision to skip the G7 summit in Canada this week in favour of talks with Putin has raised fears of a tilt towards Moscow, analysts say, after the nations held their first joint naval drills last year.

"Today we have met and our relationship is getting stronger again," Prabowo said in a statement after talks in Saint Petersburg.

"My meeting with President Putin today was intense, warm and productive. In all fields of economics, technical cooperation, trade, investment, agriculture, they all have experienced significant improvements."

Putin said Indonesia remained one of Russia's "key partners" in the Asia-Pacific region.

"Our relations are mutually beneficial and are steadily developing on the basis of long-standing traditions of friendship and mutual assistance," he said.

Prabowo thanked Putin for his support for Indonesia's entry into the 11-member BRICS bloc this year.

Prabowo visited Putin in July as president-elect and has not visited Ukraine, as his predecessor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo did.

Russia has praised Indonesia's balanced view of its military campaign in Ukraine and Prabowo alluded to the offensive on Thursday.

"We respect the sovereignty of each country, we want to solve all problems peacefully," he said.

Indonesia maintains a neutral foreign policy, walking the diplomatic tightrope between regional competitors Beijing and Washington.

However, Prabowo has sought to diversify Jakarta's alliances instead of relying solely on Western partners, causing anxiety that he could deviate from the traditional non-aligned foreign policy.

Closer ties with Moscow have sparked concern in Indonesia's neighbour Australia.

Speculation in April over a reported Russian request to use an Indonesian air base forced Canberra to seek clarification from its Southeast Asian security partner.

Prabowo will attend an economic forum in Saint Petersburg on Friday.

Indonesia has said that it wants to build its first nuclear power plant by 2032, with 500 MW capacity, aiming for it to come online in the next decade. Authorities said interested developers included Russia's Rosatom, China CNNC, and US small modular reactor producer NuScale.

Indonesia currently relies mostly on coal as a source of power despite boasting massive potential for renewable energy sources such as hydro, solar and geothermal. 

With expectations of high energy demand in the future, Indonesia is seeking to boost power generation capacity while capping its carbon emissions, eyeing nuclear power as the solution.

Prabowo has maintained Indonesia's non-aligned foreign policy, vowing to befriend any country, including Russia and the United States. He has saidIndonesia will not be joining any military bloc.

China is Indonesia's largest trading partner, but recently Prabowo's government announced a raft of concessions for trade with the US as it looks to neutralise the effect of tariffs.