Russia is a country with a centuries-long history and unique cultural heritage that harmoniously unites people of more than 190 nationalities within its vast territory.
Their remarkable achievements and contribution to the world's science, literature, and arts are an inherent and essential part of the global heritage. Poems and novels by Pushkin, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and others have been translated into several languages.
It is impossible to imagine classical music without Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, and Shostakovich.
Russian ballet has become a national brand. Yury Gagarin, the first man in outer space, with his unmistakable smile, is one of the most recognizable people in the world.
Every student knows Mendeleev’s periodic table, named after the famous Russian scientist who invented it.
Russian history is full of many glorious pages. The most important of them concerns the role of the people of the USSR and their extraordinary heroism and sacrifice in the victory over Nazism in 1945.
As one of the founders of the United Nations, since its inception, Russia has consistently advocated respect for the UN Charter in its entirety while being committed to the values of multilateralism, universally recognized principles and norms of international law, and equitable international cooperation.
It has helped people in Asia and Africa to fight colonialism, attain freedom and independence, and build their statehood and economy.
Today, Russia develops amid the continuing tectonic changes in the geopolitical landscape.
Despite rampant anti-Russian propaganda as well as the unprecedented avalanche of illegal unilateral coercive measures, Russia remains one of the key actors in global political and economic affairs.
It is rapidly expanding new logistics and the geography of cooperation. Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP) stood at 3.6 percent in 2023, while in the first quarter of 2024, it was recorded at 5.4 percent.
Lately, the World Bank has placed Russia as the fourth-largest economy in terms of public-private partnership (PPP)-based GDP.
Russia is strengthening ties with partners in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.
In particular, the ASEAN-Russia Partnership has evolved steadily, with both sides working together to promote regional stability, economic development, connectivity, resilience, and people-to-people exchanges.
As confirmed recently by the President of the Russian Federation, “promoting strategic partnership with ASEAN is a major foreign policy priority for us”.
Russia strongly supports the pivotal principles of ASEAN centrality and unity. They are of particular importance nowadays, when the same countries that instigated the Ukrainian crisis pursue their policy of division and confrontation in regional processes and structures.
Russia's joint initiatives have deepened its mutual understanding and collaboration with ASEAN member states, contributing to peace and progress in the Asia-Pacific region. Russia looks forward to further discussing them at the ministerial meetings in July in Vientiane.
*) Evgeny Zagaynov is Russian Ambassador to ASEAN
*) The views and opinions expressed on this page are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the ANTARA News Agency
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Reporter: Evgeny Zagaynov
Editor: Arie Novarina
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