Jakarta (VNA) – Russia appreciates the efforts made by Vietnam asthe Chair of ASEAN in 2020 and other ASEAN-led mechanisms, according to RussianAmbassador to ASEAN Alexander Ivanov.

In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency’s correspondents in Jakartaon the outcome of the 53rd ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM-53) andrelated meetings, the Russian diplomat said Vietnam has successfully managed toperform its duties in the difficult time of COVID-19 pandemic.

“It is a real challenge for our Vietnamese friends and we always do our best tofacilitate their chairmanship”, he stressed.

Regarding the ASEAN-Russia cooperation, he said it is developing well, and bothsides are promoting the strategic partnership in all directions.

Some of the joint activities have been transformed into the format ofvideoconferences, including the ASEAN-Russia Special Ministerial Meeting onCOVID-19 where ASEAN and Russia agreed to exchange information and experienceas well as work together on vaccine and many other issues. 

Besides, Russia started to cooperate with ASEAN on fighting infectious diseaseslong time before the COVID-19 outbreak. A number of ASEAN experts have beentrained at the International Research Centre for the Study of Biosafety andHuman Well-Being in the Asia-Pacific Region in Vladivostok, he added.

Regarding the most important outcomes of the EastAsia Summit (EAS) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and the ASEAN Regional Forum(ARF), Alexander Ivanov said the EAS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting is thekey step in preparation for the East Asia Summit where leaders of countriesdiscuss topical issues for the Asia-Pacific region.

This year, the most pressing problem in thespotlight is the common fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, and itssocio-economic impact on the region. In this context, Russia hasinitiated the preparation of the EAS Leaders’ Statement on StrengtheningCollective Capacity in Epidemics Prevention and Response, which will not onlygive impetus to joint efforts in tackling the current crisis, but alsocontribute to enhancing regional resilience to the future pandemics.

Vietnam, China, Indonesia and Thailand are co-sponsoring this document that wasalso welcomed by all EAS Foreign Ministers as timely and very important, hesaid.

Meanwhile, he said the discussion at the ARF was focused on key issues ofregional stability and countering the growing number of new threats andchallenges, and Russia co-sponsored the ARF Ministers Statement on Cooperationin the field of security and in the use of ICTs.

With regard to promoting security of ICTs, which is a high-profile agenda inthe fast-developing world, Russia has also initiated an ARF Workshop on Counteringthe Use of ICTs for Criminal Purposes as well as the development of the ARFTerminology in the field of Security of and in the use of ICT. Both theseinitiatives were endorsed by the ARF Ministers on September 12.

Ambassador Ivanov said the main attention at the ASEAN-Russia meeting and theARF was paid to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, adding Russia was thefirst country to register a COVID-19 vaccine called “Sputnik-V”.

“I wish to assure you that it wasn’t a matter ofonly a few months. Between the start of development of the adenoviral vectortechnology and the creation of the vaccine 40 years have elapsed. Thetechnology has been tested on dozens of thousands of people.”

With this experience, Russia has managed to expeditiously develop this targetvaccine. Mass production of this vaccine will start soon, and everyonewishing to do so can be vaccinated, he emphasised.

“Today more than 50 nations including countries from the Asia Pacific regionhave expressed their interest in acquiring the vaccine. We are also thinkingabout launching the mass production of the vaccine in the number of regionalstates.”

Touching on the issues of post-pandemic economic recovery, he said Russia hasbecome a co-sponsor of the EAS Leaders’ Statement on Cooperation to PromoteSteady Growth of Regional Economy initiated by China.

Moscow has also supported the Indonesian proposal to convene the EAS HealthExperts Meeting on COVID-19, and is preparing an ASEAN-Russia Seminar “JointResponse to the Coronavirus Outbreak” to be held onSeptember 30, 2020, he revealed, adding the idea of the seminar has been verymuch welcomed by the ASEAN and Russian Economic Ministers.

Regarding the regional security matters, Russia is one of the main proponentsof the EAS Discussions on the Regional Security Architecture. This dialogue isof a special importance today, when the competition of great powers in theregion is growing, which jeopardizes the role of ASEAN and ASEAN Centrality.Having this in mind, it is very topical to continue the regular practice ofholding such consultations among EAS Ambassadors in Jakarta with optionalparticipation of similarly-ranked officials from capitals./.