📰 Article by Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for Lao media 🇷🇺🇱🇦 “Russia and Laos: 65 Years of Time-Tested Friendship” (November 20, 2025)

Full article (Telegraph)

✍️ On October 7, 2025, Russia and Laos marked the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. Over the past decades, much has changed in our countries and in the world at large. What has remained immutable are the unifying traditions of friendship, mutual assistance, and camaraderie, rooted in the years of the national liberation struggle of the Lao people against French colonialists and American aggressors.

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Key points:

• The USSR took active part in the 1954 Geneva Conference, which put an end to French colonial rule in Indochina, and acted as a guarantor of Laos’s neutrality. During the “undeclared war”, extensive material support from the Soviet Union was an important factor in the victory of the Lao patriotic forces.

• #RussiaLaos: Today, Russian-Lao cooperation is dynamically advancing in accordance with the spirit and letter of the Treaty on the Principles of Friendly Relations between Russia and the Lao PDR of March 9, 1994, and the Declaration on bilateral Strategic Partnership in the Asia-Pacific Region of October 13, 2011.

• We attach great importance to the development of Russian-Lao practical cooperation, the volume of which continues to grow. The primary tasks in this area are the creation of new effective transport and logistics routes, the implementation of large joint investment projects, primarily in the fields of energy, exploration and mining, as well as support for the activities of small and medium-sized businesses. <…> We see good prospects in the project to construct a small modular reactor nuclear power plant in the Lao PDR with the participation of the Rosatom State Corporation.

❗️ The strengthening strategic partnership between Russia and Laos allows us to look to the future with hope and optimism.

• The priorities for joint work are determined by the leaders of our countries during their intensive and trust-based dialogue. On July 31, 2025, talks were held between President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of the Lao PDR Thongloun Sisoulith during his official visit to Russia. In 2024, two meetings of the Heads of State took place – on May 9 in Moscow and on October 24 on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan.

• Our countries’ approaches to a wide range of international issues coincide or are very close. We advocate for the unconditional observance of the principles of the UN Charter in their entirety, fullness, and interconnectedness. We are firmly committed to the formation of a just multipolar world order.

• We appreciate the desire of our Lao partners to establish contacts with the leading associations of the World Majority, including #BRICS and the #SCO, to “build bridges” with the #EAEU, and to participate in the processes of creating the Greater Eurasian Partnership and the Eurasian security architecture.

• We welcome Laos’s independent foreign policy, including its balanced position in the context of the Ukrainian crisis. Obviously, a lasting settlement of the conflict is only possible through eliminating its root causes

• The strengthening strategic partnership between our countries allows us to look to the future with hope and optimism. The 65 years of cooperation is evidence that we can solve the most complex issues for the benefit of our countries and peoples, in the interests of ensuring universal peace and prosperity.

🇱🇦 On December 2, #Laos celebrates the 5️⃣0️⃣th anniversary of the proclamation of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

This commemorative date coincides with the 80th Anniversary of the Great Victory.

The defeat of Nazism and the end of World War II gave a powerful impetus to the process of decolonisation in Asia. The Lao people, who declared their independence in October 1945, needed several more decades to defend it.

As a result of determined struggle and political and diplomatic efforts aimed at preserving the country’s neutrality amid foreign aggression in Indochina, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic was officially established in 1975.

Our country played a significant role in supporting the Lao people in their national liberation movement, as well as in building Lao statehood, developing the economy, and strengthening its defense capabilities.

With support from the USSR, major industrial enterprises, key transport infrastructure, medical institutions, and educational facilities were built.

🤝 Diplomatic relations between our countries were established on October 7, 1960. On March 9, 1994, the Treaty on the Fundamentals of Friendly Relations was signed. In October 2011, the Declaration on the Russia–Laos Strategic Partnership in the Asia-Pacific Region was adopted.

Today, our countries are seeing steady progress in the development of a trust-based dialogue at the highest and high levels, expanded cooperation between parliaments and government agencies and intensified trade, economic, cultural, humanitarian and regional ties within the framework of the Russia–Laos strategic partnership.

💬 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov:

We highly value the careful attitude of our Lao friends toward the pages of our shared past, the preservation of historical truth and the prevention of any attempts to distort it. We know that Laos cherishes the memory of the assistance our country provided in establishing its statehood. <...> Under current conditions, Russia and Laos face new challenges and opportunities. The strengthening of strategic partnership between our countries allows us to look to the future with hope and optimism

(excerpt from the article by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for Lao media, “Russia and Laos: 65 Years of Time-Tested Friendship”, November 20, 2025)

🎉 We congratulate our Lao colleagues and friends on their national holiday and wish them well-being and prosperity!

#RussiaLaos

Major seminar from RT Academy in Indonesia successfully kicks off!

The event, held at the Russian House in Jakarta brought together 250 participants from ACROSS Southeast Asia

Russian Ambassador of Indonesia opened the event, underscoring the importance of professional exchange and media development

This event is the first in a series of workshops in Indonesia and the program will continue for another 3 days at the RT bureau in Jakarta

Indonesia series is part of RT Academy's expanded global educational outreach. Just in the past month, the Academy has conducted lectures and master classes at leading universities in India and held its first in-person seminar on modern journalism in Dakar, Senegal

🇷🇺🇻🇳 On December 3, Deputy Foreign Minister Dmitry Lyubinsky met with Deputy Minister of Public Security of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Pham The Tung, at his request, on the sidelines of the 2025 BRICS+ Counter-Terrorism Conference underway in Moscow.

The officials discussed current issues on the counterterrorism agenda, the further development of cooperation between the relevant agencies of Russia and Vietnam in combatting modern threats and challenges, as well as dialogue and interaction between their countries’ foreign ministries on multilateral platforms, including the #UN and #ASEAN.

They expressed confidence in the successful outcome of the BRICS+ conference and emphasised the importance of holding such events for consolidating collective efforts against terrorism and extremism on the regional and global scale.

#RussiaVietnam

Talks are underway at the Kremlin between Vladimir Putin and President of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto

The Indonesian leader is in Moscow on a working visit.

Russian Mission to ASEAN 🇷🇺 hosted a working lunch for the team of the Philippines Mission to ASEAN 🇵🇭. We highly appreciate the opportunity to discuss the prospects of further cooperation between Russia and ASEAN ahead of the Philippines’ ASEAN Chairship in 2026. 🤝

📰 Russia's Ambassador to ASEAN Evgeny Zagaynov’s article “ASEAN–Russia Highway to a Shared Future”
(The Antara News, 13 December 2025)

👉 Read in full:
(The Antara News)
(Telegraph)

Key points:

🔹 This month marks 20 years since the first ASEAN–Russia Summit in Kuala Lumpur (13 December 2005), a milestone that set the foundations of today’s partnership. The ASEAN-Russia Joint Declaration on Progressive and Comprehensive Partnership that was adopted on that day defined the main goals and areas of our joint work for the years ahead and shaped the strategic trajectory of cooperation.

🔹 Russia’s engagement with ASEAN-led mechanisms took root in Kuala Lumpur, where President Vladimir Putin participated in the very first East Asia Summit. This paved the way for Russia’s full integration into ASEAN-centred regional architecture.

🔹 Over two decades, ASEAN–Russia relations have proven genuinely multidimensional, driven by mutual respect, shared principles, and practical cooperation across political–security, economic, and socio-cultural pillars.

🔹 The partnership continues to expand, with new mechanisms such as the ASEAN–Russia Consultations of High Representatives for Security Issues and the Dialogue on ICT Security. Russia has also become an ASEAN Digital Partner, and the first Senior Officials Meeting on digital technologies convened in Bangkok.

🔹 ASEAN–Russia trade reached record levels in 2024, growing by 13% despite an unfavourable global environment.

🔹 Cooperation in energy, biosafety, smart cities, and cutting-edge technologies is accelerating. A new MoU between the ASEAN Centre for Energy and Rosatom strengthens collaboration on peaceful nuclear energy, while the ASEAN–Russia Project on Capacity Building on Energy Statistics is underway.

🔹 People-to-people ties and expertise development remain priorities. Russia continues to expand training programmes for ASEAN specialists, with particular focus on youth cooperation. The Russian MGIMO University Master's program "Politics and Economics of the Russia-ASEAN Dialogue Partnership" saw its first graduating class in 2024.

🔹 The ASEAN Centre in MGIMO has become the leading hub for expert dialogue, marking its 15th anniversary with a major international conference bringing together diplomats, scholars, analysts, and young researchers to explore new areas of cooperation.

🔹 ASEAN and Russia increasingly coordinate within wider regional and global frameworks, including #SCO, #EAEU, and #BRICS. Shared values and complementary agendas make these platforms natural spaces for deepening synergy.

🔹 Russia consistently supports ASEAN’s strategic autonomy, especially amid growing geopolitical pressures and unilateral tendencies. ASEAN’s independent voice strengthens the broader Global South and contributes to more balanced global governance.

🔹 Looking ahead, Russia and ASEAN reaffirm their commitment to a shared, prosperous future, building on two decades of cooperation and paving the way for deeper partnership in an emerging multipolar world.