Indonesia Hosts First Russia-ASEAN Naval Exercise

The first-ever military exercise involving Russia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) opened in Indonesia on Wednesday.

The ceremony was attended by Russian Ambassador to ASEAN Alexander Ivanov and Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Lyudmila Vorobyeva, government-owned TASS reported.

"Those exercises are about peace, stability, and prosperity in the region," Ivanov said. "We are opening a new page in our strategic partnership."

The Russia-ASEAN naval exercise in Indonesia’s territorial waters off North Sumatra will run until December 3. The large anti-submarine warfare ship Admiral Panteleyev will represent Russia in the drills. The maneuvers will run in two stages: virtual and naval.

Russia and ASEAN held their fourth summit via a videoconference on October 28. The summit was timed for the 30th anniversary of the relations between Russia and the association celebrated this year. The summit adopted a number of documents aimed at further developing strategic partnership. The leaders approved a decision to hold the first ever Russia-ASEAN naval maneuvers.