Indonesia and Russia began their first joint naval exercises on Monday, at a time when the president of this Southeast Asian archipelago is seeking to strengthen Jakarta’s role on the world stage. The five-day exercises are taking place in two phases in East Java, where Russia is to send three corvettes, a tanker, a military helicopter and a tugboat. According to local TV channels, the Russian ships were welcomed by a fanfare on Sunday at a port in the city of Subraya, the day before the exercises began.

Jakarta has long favored a neutral foreign policy, refusing to take a clear side in the war between Russia and Ukraine or to choose between China and the United States, two great rival powers. But the new president Prabowo Subianto called for closer relations with Moscow despite Western pressure. Asean, of which Indonesia is a member, has already taken part in joint military exercises with Russia in 2021, but Jakarta has never before organized bilateral maneuvers with Moscow.

Jakarta has billions of dollars in trade relations with Russia, but its arms imports have stagnated in recent years, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), following Western sanctions imposed on Russia after the invasion of Crimea in 2014 and Ukraine in 2022. However, Prabowo Subianto kept a potential $1.1 billion deal for Russian fighter jets on the table, concluded in 2018, despite the threat of US sanctions.