Putin hosts Indonesia's Prabowo in Russia in bid to deepen ties

ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) -Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto held talks with President Vladimir Putin in the northern Russian city of St Petersburg on Thursday as they explore ways to deepen what some officials have called a burgeoning strategic partnership.

The deepening of ties between Russia and Indonesia, part of Moscow's bid to forge new relations with the Global South amid Western attempts to isolate it over the Ukraine war, has perturbed some powers such as Australia.

Meeting in the Constantine Palace, Putin noted Indonesia's entry into BRICS as a full member and said he was sure it would make a significant contribution to the grouping, which he said was gaining clout in the world.

Prabowo thanked Putin for his support over Indonesia's entry to BRICS and said that ties between the two countries were improving.

Russia and Indonesia's foreign ministers, Sergei Lavrov and Sugiono, speaking in Moscow earlier this week, mentioned a possible strategic partnership between the two countries.

Russia has proposed deepening military, security, trade and nuclear ties with Indonesia, which has the world's fourth largest population.

Prabowo previously visited Russia in August 2024, when he was defence minister and president-elect, and described Moscow as a "great friend", saying he hoped for stronger cooperation on defence, energy and education.

Indonesia has said that it wants to build its first nuclear power plant by 2032, with 500 MW capacity, aiming for it to come online in the next decade. Authorities said interested developers included Russia's Rosatom, China CNNC, and U.S. small modular reactor producer NuScale.

Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest economy, currently relies mostly on coal as a source of power despite boasting massive potential for renewable energy sources such as hydro, solar and geothermal.

With expectations of high energy demand in the future, Indonesia is seeking to boost power generation capacity while capping its carbon emissions, eyeing nuclear power as the solution.

Prabowo has maintained Indonesia's non-aligned foreign policy, vowing to befriend any country, including Russia and the United States. He has said Indonesia will not be joining any military bloc.

China is Indonesia's largest trading partner, but recently Prabowo's government announced a raft of concessions for trade with the U.S. as it looks to neutralise the effect of tariffs.

Russia has praised what it says is Indonesia's balanced position on the Ukraine war. Russia and Indonesia conducted their first joint naval exercises in the Java Sea last November.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge in St Petersburg, Russia, and Stanley Widianto and Gibran Peshimam in Jakarta; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)