JAKARTA: The European tour of Defence Minister and president-elect Prabowo Subianto has gone into an encore with a previously unannounced visit to Russia to strengthen the defence and diplomatic relations between the two countries, a move widely considered a signal against Western-oriented leadership.
The visit, considered by the Defence Ministry an “important step” toward a stronger Jakarta-Moscow relationship, saw the first meeting between Prabowo and Russian President Vladimir Putin since Prabowo won the presidential election.
