Prabowo: Putin Helps Indonesia Join BRICS
President Prabowo Subianto expressed his appreciation to Russian President Vladimir Putin for helping Indonesia join the BRICS group of nations. BRICS is a major grouping of developing countries that serves as a forum for economic, political, and security cooperation.
BRICS originally comprised Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. However, it has since expanded to include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia.
President Prabowo regards Russia’s support in Indonesia’s accession to BRICS as an important step towards strengthening Indonesia’s position on the global stage. Prabowo conveyed this during a bilateral meeting at the Kremlin Palace in Moscow on Monday, 13 April 2026.
“The main purpose of my visit today is to express my thanks to President Putin and the Russian Government for Russia’s support to Indonesia. First, we were accepted so quickly into BRICS,” said Prabowo on Monday afternoon local time, quoted from the live broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat’s YouTube channel.
For Prabowo, Russia has also provided support for various important needs of Indonesia in several strategic sectors. “In several matters that are very important to Indonesia, President Putin has supported and provided assistance to Indonesia’s needs,” stated Prabowo.
On the same occasion, President Putin welcomed Indonesia’s membership in BRICS. Putin views Indonesia’s membership as opening the way for strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries. “Indonesia has become a BRICS member. This opens new opportunities for developing our cooperation,” said Putin.
President Putin stated that Indonesia and Russia have always prioritised key sectors for cooperation. Both sides, said Putin, have frequently discussed opportunities to develop cooperation in strategic fields. “Among others, we have talked about cooperation in the energy sector, in the space sector, also in the agricultural sector, in the industrial sector, and in the pharmaceutical sector,” said Putin.
Not only that, Putin continued, both countries also attach great importance to developing cooperation in the humanitarian field, for example in education.
Putin also highlighted the development of economic and trade cooperation between Indonesia and Russia. According to Putin, the trade value between the two countries has experienced a significant increase of 12 percent.
“At the beginning of this year, we witnessed a slight slowdown in bilateral trade, but we have various ways to increase it. We attach great importance to the joint intergovernmental commission,” said Putin.
Putin hopes that his meeting with Prabowo can serve as a moment to find various solutions to continue enhancing the partnership between the two countries.