ASEAN Beat | Diplomacy | Southeast Asia

ASEAN and Russia Agree to Deepen Cooperation During Special Summit in Kazan

The global energy crisis has given a new momentum to relations between Moscow and the 11-nation Southeast Asian bloc.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) pose for an official photo during the ASEAN-Russia Commemorative Summit in Kazan, Russia, Jun. 18, 2026.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Russia yesterday pledged to expand trade, energy, and security cooperation, as they met for a special summit in Kazan.

Leaders from 10 of ASEAN’s 11 member states attended the ASEAN-Russia Commemorative Summit, which is intended to marks the 35th anniversary of relations between Russia and the Southeast Asian bloc. A number also held sideline meetings with President Vladimir Putin, who co-chaired the summit with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who currently holds the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN. Due to its exclusion from high-level ASEAN meetings, Myanmar was represented by an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In his welcome remarks as co-chair of the summit, Marcos said that the two sides had much to gain from closer cooperation.

“In an era of deepening geopolitical uncertainty, the value of steady political and security engagement between ASEAN and Russia cannot be overstated,” Marcos said, as per the Philippine news outlet GMA News Online.

“We must be more deliberate and more ambitious in expanding economic opportunities, improving trade facilitation, deepening investment flows, and connecting our business communities,” Marcos added. “Food and energy security deserve, in particular, attention as these are the foundations on which broader stability rests.”

The Philippine leader also called for the two sides to expand cooperation to combat transnational threats “such as terrorism, illicit trafficking, cybercrime, and online scams” and to “strengthen practical cooperation on maritime security and counterterrorism.”

During the summit, the two sides adopted a number of outcome documents, including the Kazan Declaration 2026, which pledged to expand cooperation across a host of different fronts, based on a “common aspiration” for “a just multipolar world as guided by international law and the principles of the U.N. Charter.” The two sides also adopted the ASEAN-Russia Comprehensive Plan of Action 2026-2030, which will serve as a “guiding document” for future engagement between the regional bloc and Moscow.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Putin, Marcos said that the documents “provide a comprehensive roadmap for expanding practical cooperation and delivering tangible results and benefits to our peoples in the years to come.”

Putin said that Russia and ASEAN’s member states agreed on the need to deepen economic cooperation, diversify trade, and strengthen food and energy partnerships to address the vulnerabilities exposed by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which created global shortages of fuel and fertilizer.

“Naturally, we’ll........

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