Jakarta. Russian President Vladimir Putin is looking to fix the decline in Moscow’s wheat exports to Jakarta, as seen in his meeting with his Indonesian counterpart, Prabowo Subianto, on Wednesday.

Prabowo has made Moscow the second leg of his overseas trip, which began with a visit to Pakistan. 

Putin told Prabowo that bilateral trade had grown 17 percent. Despite the double-digit increase, Putin noticed a "slight drop" in Russian wheat shipments to Southeast Asia's biggest economy. The Russian leader also went on to say how agricultural trade has been in Indonesia's favor.

“We are not complaining. We are ready to look for ways to further develop our relations in this sector. I believe that the supply of wheat to your market has decreased slightly, but this is also a topic of discussion today,” Putin said at the Kremlin.

The Presidential Press Bureau only broadcast the opening session of the talks. The publicly available parts did not show Prabowo commenting on wheat trade, although he said that Indonesia has had "constructive discussions" with the Russian businessmen visiting the country. He also tried to invite Putin to come to Jakarta either in 2026 or 2027. Putin, however, has been limiting his travels following an international arrest warrant over his war crimes in Ukraine. 

“I actually came here for a consultation, but now I wish to express my gratitude. We believe that our bilateral ties are at an exceptionally good level,” Prabowo said, while commenting that Putin had accepted him on "very short notice".

Trade Ministry data showed a massive drop in Indonesia’s imports of cereals, particularly wheat, from Russia. Between January and October 2025, the import value fell by a whopping 86 percent year-on-year to $44.4 million. Indonesia had brought in about $321 million worth of Russian cereals over the same ten-month period in 2024. 

According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), Australia, Ukraine, and Canada were Indonesia's top wheat suppliers last year. Russia and Ukraine are known to be the world's breadbaskets.

The overall Indonesia-Russia trade amounted to $4 billion, with Jakarta registering a $882.1 million deficit. Agricultural products made up quite a sizable portion of Indonesia’s Russia-bound exports, be it palm oil, coffee, tea, and even spices.

Both nations are currently negotiating a free trade pact involving the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) -- something that Putin had earlier noted during the meeting. The EAEU includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Russian Ambassador Sergei Tolchenov recently said that the EAEU trade accord would likely clear the way for more of Moscow's wheat to Indonesia. 

Jakarta is also the latest addition to the BRICS group that Moscow -- alongside other emerging economies -- had founded.

This officially became Prabowo’s second visit to Russia this year, with the first one having only taken place in June.

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