ASEAN Academic Days 2021: Lecture by Ambassador of Russia to ASEAN

22 March 2021

March 22nd, in the framework of the cycle of lectures "ASEAN Academic Days 2021 at MGIMO", the Ambassador of Russia to the ASEAN A.Ivanov delivered a lecture on "Strategic ambiguity in the Asia-Pacific: roots, features and means of treatment."

The Director of the ASEAN Center V.Sumsky, the Russian Ambassador to Indonesia L.Vorobieva, representatives of the ASEAN secretariat and permanent missions of the dialogue partner countries of the Association in Jakarta all participated in the event. Faculty members and students of the University and of other leading think tanks of Russia and Southeast Asia specializing in the study of the Asia-Pacific and Russia-Asean relations also attended the lecture. The meeting was moderated by E.Koldunova, Associate Professor of the Department of Oriental Studies and Leading Expert of the ASEAN Center.

Ambassador A.Ivanov began his lecture with a quote from the famous Soviet diplomat, Foreign Minister A.Gromyko: "10 years of negotiations are better than one day of war", and noted that one of the main goals of Russian diplomacy today is to maintain peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific. The speaker emphasized the need to overcome the strategic uncertainty in the region, which can be attributed to the rivalry between regional and great powers, territorial disputes, the nuclear problem on the Korean Peninsula and threats to security. A.Ivanov noted that ASEAN and its institutions, because they are inclusive, should play a key role in finding solutions to these challenges. The speaker underlined the similarities between Russia and ASEAN countries’ vision and approaches to regional security, noting that cooperation through existing multilateral platforms can further contribute to overcoming crisis and conflict situations.

After his lecture, the Ambassador took questions from the audience and discussed a large array of topics with students and experts including the prospects for the development of relations between Russia and ASEAN after the COVID-19 pandemic, the supply of the Russian Sputnik-V vaccine to the countries of the region, the pairing of regional associations such as ASEAN, the EAEU and the SCO, cooperation between Russia and ASEAN in IT technologies, information security and sustainable development.

The event was broadcast online in real time on MGIMO’s YouTube channel, on the University’s website and attracted many viewers from Russia and ASEAN countries.

The next event of the “ASEAN Academic Days 2021” will deal with Brunei's priorities under its ASEAN Presidency in 2021. Brunei's Ambassador to Russia, Heini Hashim, will give a talk on this subject. You can register to participate on the ASEAN Center website and its Facebook page.