What ASEAN Sees in Russia That the West Does Not

As the West has isolated Russia since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, a different scene has emerged in the city of Kazan. Leaders and senior officials from Southeast Asia took turns attending meetings with Moscow. There were no empty seats. There were no signs of ostracism. On the contrary, what was visible was an interest in expanding cooperation. This is where a big question arises. If Russia is truly as isolated as is often portrayed in the West, why are ASEAN countries still actively building relations with it? The question becomes even more intriguing because the meeting in Kazan was not just an ordinary diplomatic celebration. Russia and ASEAN are commemorating 35 years of their partnership, a relationship that is now developing amidst major changes in the global geopolitical landscape. But what happened in Kazan was actually not just about Russia. It is also about ASEAN. For decades, many people considered the European Union the primary model of regional integration. Brussels was seen as the most successful example of how sovereign states surrender part of their authority to a common institution to create a larger market and political power. But now a different model is emerging. ASEAN does not have a supranational parliament like the European Union. It does not have a commission that can regulate its member states. Nor does it have a political structure that forces members to follow a single policy line. Yet this organisation continues to grow. Its economy is developing into one of the most dynamic in the world. Its population is approaching 700 million people. Global trade routes crisscross its territory. Investment continues to flow. Why has this much looser model succeeded? Aleksandr Bobrov, a professor of international relations at Russia’s MGIMO University, believes ASEAN has shown that regional integration does not have to be built by transferring primary power to supranational institutions. ‘ASEAN proves that countries can cooperate closely without losing their respective strategic room for manoeuvre,’ Bobrov said, as reported by Russia Today on Friday (19/6/2026). But that is only the first layer of the story. For Moscow, ASEAN is not just a regional organisation. ASEAN is a gateway to one of the largest centres of economic growth of the 21st century. The region connects the Indian and Pacific Oceans, controls trade routes that are the lifeblood of the global economy, and is home to some of the world’s fastest-growing economies. As the West showers Russia with sanctions and economic restrictions, access to a region like ASEAN becomes increasingly important for Russia.