President of Russia Vladimir Putin had a conversation with Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in India.
The Russian delegation at the meeting included Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov; Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Maxim Oreshkin; Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office and Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov; Aide to the President Yuri Ushakov; Minister of Agriculture Oksana Lut; Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov; Director of the Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation Dmitry Shugayev; Special Presidential Representative for Investment and Economic Cooperation with Foreign Countries and Chief Executive Officer of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev; First Deputy Minister of Energy Pavel Sorokin; Deputy Governor of the Central Bank Vladimir Chistyukhin; Director General of the Roscosmos State Space Corporation Dmitry Bakanov, and Director General of State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom Alexei Likhachev.
* * *
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Prime Minister, friends,
I am very glad to see you, Mr Prime Minister. It has been a long time since our last meeting. First of all, I would like to ask you to convey my warmest regards to the Supreme Ruler of Malaysia, Sultan Ibrahim – we had the pleasure of meeting in Moscow this May at the celebrations of the 81st anniversary of Victory over Nazism.
We highly appreciate the high level and truly friendly nature of relations between Russia and Malaysia.
Today, we meet within the BRICS framework – a platform where the outlines of a new, equitable and democratic world order are being shaped. We welcome Malaysia’s joining the group as a partner country, which took place during our chairmanship in 2024.
Next year will mark 60 years of diplomatic relations between our countries, and we approach this significant milestone with a wealth of positive experience of cooperation and a solid foundation for its further expansion.
Contacts are developing dynamically across the security councils, parliaments, foreign ministries and other relevant agencies. Recently, in August, the fifth meeting of the Joint Russian-Malaysian Commission on Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation was held in Vladivostok.
Last year, trade between our countries increased by 12.9 percent – a very encouraging figure.
We attach great importance to our cooperation in education, science, technology and tourism. Today, we have the opportunity to discuss priority areas of our cooperation in all these areas.
Once again, I am very glad to see you and to have the opportunity to speak with you on the sidelines of the BRICS summit.
Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim: Thank you, President Vladimir Putin. And thank you to the delegations. The ministers here were really appreciative that we can join in this meeting.
I know it is very late. It takes only a young man with a steady, firm position to be able to conduct affairs this late. Thank you very much.
Now, thank you. King Sultan Ibrahim sent his personal regards. He enjoyed the sessions very much. And he is thinking of coming again. I said, “Slow down, you have been too many times to Russia already.”
But some of our issues that we have agreed, we are proceeding very fast on. For example, air connectivity: we have cleared everything and we are waiting for you to start the flights. The same also goes for energy. Thank you very much. You have been very supportive of our cooperation in the energy sector, with MyPOWER and Rosatom.
As you know, it is a big thing in Malaysia that the President and Russia supported our Petronas moves to expand our activities.
<…>