Jakarta. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday did not give any comment to the press after attending a string of diplomacy talks in Jakarta.

Lavrov on Wednesday afternoon took part in a three-way dialogue with Chinese senior diplomat Wang Yi and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi. The meeting, which mostly took place behind closed doors, lasted for around an hour. Shortly after Wang Yi left, Lavrov and Retno moved to another room for a bilateral meeting. The Indonesia-Russia dialogue went on for around 20 minutes. 

When Lavrov passed by reporters, he only smiled and waved to the camera without saying a word. According to Retno, the trilateral talks put emphasis on the respective countries’ relations with ASEAN which Indonesia is chairing this year. Whereas the Indonesia-Russia bilateral dialogue saw food and energy security being one of the dominant items on the agenda.

“The bilateral talks with Russia discussed a number of matters, including planned visits. And there were many items related to food and energy security,” Retno told reporters.

Lavrov is visiting Jakarta to meet his Southeast Asian counterparts. He is scheduled to speak with ASEAN bilaterally on Thursday. Russia is a dialogue partner to ASEAN. However, it has not established a comprehensive strategic partnership with the 10-member grouping. 

All eyes are still on Russia to this day. It has been more than a year since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in Feb. 2022. The Russia-Ukraine war also triggered food and energy supply challenges.

Lavrov’s Jakarta trip took place shortly after NATO decided to not set a time frame for Ukraine’s accession to the security alliance. Ukraine has been seeking NATO membership in a bid to combat Russia’s aggression. 

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