During Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s Russia visit (June 18-20, 2025) he met with the Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday (June 19) and participated in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) held at St. Petersburg (Russia). Prabowo delivered a keynote speech at the event – referred to as Russia’s Davos.
Significance of Prabowo’s Russia visit
The visit was important for more than one reason. First, as mentioned earlier, it was Prabowo’s first visit to Russia as Indonesia’s President. He visited Russia as President-elect and Defence Minister in August 2024.
The Indonesian President skipped the G7 Summit held in Kananaskis, Albarta (Canada) on June 16-17, 2025. While Indonesia has followed a balanced foreign policy, some commentators have viewed this as a possible shift in the South-East Asian nation’s policy. Some of the western capitals would be closely observing Prabowo’s visit and paying close attention to his decision to visit Russia for the SPIEF instead of attending the G7 Summit in Canada.
While speaking at the St Petersburg Economic Forum, on June 20, 2025, the Indonesian President said that he did not attend the G7 Summit because he had given his commitment to attend the event in Russia before receiving an invitation for the G7.
It would be important to point out that Prabowo’s predecessor, Joko Widodo — referred to as Jokowi — also walked a tight rope as far as ties between Indonesia and the West and Russia were concerned. While he visited both Russia and Ukraine in 2022, he declined to supply weapons to Ukraine. Apart from this, he also invited Russian President Vladimir Putin for the G20 Summit at Bali in November 2022 – much to the displeasure of the West. Putin did not attend the summit. Jokowi also attended the G7 Summit held in Tokyo in May 2023.
Prabowo’s balancing act between Washington DC and Beijing
Prabowo, on his part, has also been trying to strike a fine balance in ties between the US and China. After taking over as President, Prabowo visited China and the US in November 2024. During his visit, Prabowo called the then-US President-elect Donald Trump to congratulate him on his victory. Both leaders also held a conversation earlier this month, days before Prabowo’s Russia visit. Indonesia’s cabinet secretary while commenting on the conversation between Trump and Putin said: “As leaders of two major countries, President Prabowo and President Trump agreed to deepen cooperation between Indonesia and the US.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Indonesian President met on June 19, 2025. A strategic partnership was signed during their meeting. MoUs were signed between both countries for strengthening cooperation in education and research, transportation and digital development. An MoU was also signed between Sovereign Wealth Funds of both countries DANANTARA (Indonesia) and the Management Company of the Russian Direct Investment Fund. Both agreed to set up an investment fund to the tune of $ 2.29 billion.
Indonesia-Russia ties and BRICS
Prabowo’s visit also comes weeks before the BRICS Summit to be held in Brazil next month (July 6-7, 2025). Indonesia was admitted into BRICS as a full member in January 2025. In doing so, it became the first ASEAN member to be granted membership. Three other ASEAN nations, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam, are partner countries of BRICS.
Indonesia has repeatedly stated that it would utilise its membership for raising issues related to a more inclusive global order. After securing full membership of BRICS, Indonesia, in a statement, said: “This achievement shows Indonesia’s increasingly active role in global issues and commitment to strengthening multilateral cooperation to create a global structure that is more inclusive and fair.”
Indonesia’s membership of BRICS will also bolster its aim of being an important global player and a bridge between the Global South and the developed world.
During the meeting between Prabowo and Putin, Indonesia’s entry into BRICS was discussed. Putin said that he was sure Indonesia would make a positive contribution to the organisation, while Prabowo thanked Putin for Russia’s support.
In conclusion, Prabowo’s Russia visit was important not just from a bilateral context, where both sides signed important agreements. The decision of the Indonesian President not to attend the G7 Summit and the timing of the visit, as discussed earlier, were significant. It would be too early to assume that Indonesia has made a departure from its goal of “the path of friendship with all countries.”
[Photo by kremlin.ru]
The views and opinions expressed in the article are those of the author.
Tridivesh Singh Maini is a New Delhi based analyst interested in Punjab-Punjab linkages as well as Partition Studies. Maini co-authored ‘Humanity Amidst Insanity: Hope During and After the Indo-Pak Partition’ (New Delhi: UBSPD, 2008) with Tahir Malik and Ali Farooq Malik. He can be reached at tridivesh80@hotmail.com.
