June 26, 2026

Thanks to Trump, Russia’s Own ‘Pivot to Asia’ Is Bearing Fruit

By: Derek Grossman

This article was originally published in Responsible Statecraft.

Last week, leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations led by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. visited Kazan, Russia, to celebrate 35 years of ASEAN-Russia relations and 30 years of dialogue cooperation. Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed the leaders of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam to Russia’s fifth largest city where they signed a joint statement promoting a “just multipolar world as guided by international law and the principles of the UN Charter.”

If Washington wants to maintain its strategic position in Southeast Asia, it will need to do more than compete with China. It will also need to avoid handing Russia opportunities that it could not have created on its own.

Under normal circumstances, the summit would have gone unnoticed. After all, ASEAN and Russian leaders have met in the past — most recently in 2016 in Sochi, Russia. However, within the context of the global energy crisis caused by the U.S.-Israel war against Iran, the Russia-ASEAN summit this time around was geostrategically significant.

Read the full article in Responsible Statecraft

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