(VOVWORLD) - Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Masudi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov co-chair a Special ASEAN-Russia Foreign Ministers' Meeting via videoconference on Tuesday.
 The Special ASEAN-Russia Foreign Ministers' Meeting via videoconference (Photo: dangcongsan.vn) |
Delegates agreed to activate some consultation mechanisms between ASEAN and Russia, emphasized the need to continue working together to halt the spread of dangerous coronavirus variants and distribute COVID-19 vaccines to everyone in the region.
ASEAN members agreed to closely cooperate with Russia in promoting trade and investment, maintaining regional supply chains, and fostering cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Union and ASEAN.
ASEAN members affirmed the necessity of increasing dialogue and cooperation, building trust, upholding ASEAN-led mechanisms and multilateralism, and strengthening the rule-based regional structure in which ASEAN plays a central role.
 Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son |
At the event, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son asked the two sides to build trust and mutual understanding and uphold international law, and affirmed ASEAN’s commitment to effectively implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and promptly completing negotiations on an effective and practical Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea in line with international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
At the end of the meeting, Russia and Indonesia issued a statement of the co-chairs. Russia proposed that the fourth ASEAN-Russia high-level meeting be organised in October, 2021.