Opening the Russian-Indonesian restricted talks, Mr Putin said that Russia and Indonesia had long-standing friendly relations. He noted that the improving economic situation in Indonesia would promote bilateral contacts in various fields.
At the expanded talks, Mr Putin said that Russia was interested in propelling its relations with Indonesia to a higher level. His talks with the Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri showed that Djakarta agreed with this position.
The talks resulted in the signing of a Declaration on the Principles of a Friendly Partnership Between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Indonesia in the 21st century.
In addition, an intergovernmental agreement on Russian-Indonesian military-technical cooperation, two banking agreements and a memorandum of intent on cooperation in space technologies were signed in the Presidents’ presence.
Mr Putin said after the talks that Russia and Indonesia advocate the formation of a just and democratic system of international relations based on the generally recognised principles and norms of international law, and on the political and diplomatic methods of settling international disputes.
The Russian President noted the similarity of the two countries’ positions on the role of the UN in resolving international crises.
President Putin also said that there were good prospects for stepping up political, economic, technical and military-technical cooperation between the two countries.