Session of Defence Ministers of Russia and ASEAN took place in Moscow

On 26 April 2016, Moscow hosted the first ever Session of Defence Ministers of Russia and ASEAN in the run-up to the V Moscow Conference on International Security.

Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation General of the Army Sergei Shoigu opened the meeting. He said that Russia considers ASEAN Member States to be its key partners in ensuring security in the Asia-Pacific Region.

"Stepping up cooperation with ASEAN Member States in various formats is a matter of priority to us. The ten states are among Russia's main partners in creating the architecture of equal and indivisible security and sustainable growth in the Asia-Pacific Region," he said.

He added that ASEAN — Russia Dialogue Partnership will turn 20 in 2016. The ASEAN — Russia Commemorative Summit will be held on 19-20 May in Sochi to mark this event. Participants in the summit will discuss the key results of political, economic and humanitarian cooperation between Russia and ASEAN Member States.

The meeting participants exchanged views on pressing global and regional security issues, compared their approaches to resolving them and outlined ways to strengthen defence cooperation.