Russian Foreign Minister arrives in Brunei for ASEAN meeting

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov has arrived in Brunei to take part in meetings of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) on July 31 and August 1.

It is planned that the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry will represent Russia at the 9th session of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) on Security and at postministerial conferences in the ASEAN+10 (ASEAN dialogue with all partner-countries) and ASEAN+1 (bilateral dialogue ASEAN-Russia) formats.

Alexander Yakovenko, official spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said in a RIA Novosti interview on the eve of Ivanov's trip to South-East Asia that the Regional ASEAN Forum is a "unique and currently the only mechanism of an inter-governmental dialogue on key aspects of life of the Asia-Pacific region, and quests of joint replies to challenges which the region is coming up with." Taking part in the forum, apart from the ASEAN member-countries, will be Russia, the USA, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, as well as the European Union.

On the agenda of the forum is a wide range of issues, including, in particular, forms and methods of combating concrete threats -- terrorism, piracy, drug-trafficking, organized crime, as well as problems of ensuring general regional stability and topical international issues. In the current year the subject of counter-terrorism holds prominence on the agenda. Among the documents prepared for the Brunei session is an ARF Declaration on financial measures to counter terrorism and a package of counter-terrorist recommendations to the forum participants.

Within the framework of the postministerial conferences in the ASEAN+10 and ASEAN+1 format, Igor Ivanov is planning to hold several bilateral and multilateral meetings, in particular with the foreign ministers of the USA, China, Japan and India.