resident Prabowo Subianto was set to meet counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Tuesday, just a day after talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin about oil, the government in Jakarta said.
Prabowo is set to meet Macron at the Elysee Palace “to discuss enhancing strategic cooperation between the two countries,” Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said in a statement.
The face-to-face meeting would “also serve as an important moment for Indonesia to convey its strategic perspectives on global dynamics,” Teddy added, without providing more details on the agenda.
Teddy said Prabowo met for five hours with Putin at the Kremlin on Monday, flying directly from the Russian capital to Paris.
With Putin, he had discussed “strengthening their strategic partnership, particularly in the sectors of energy, mineral resources, and national industrial development,” said Teddy.
Prabowo, who recently travelled to South Korea and Japan, has justified his slew of foreign visits.
“Brothers and sisters, it’s to secure oil, I have to go everywhere,” he said in an address to his cabinet this month.
Russia’s Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev said the country has received a request from Indonesia for supplies of oil products, the state-run RIA news agency reported on Monday.
Disruptions to Middle Eastern shipments have sent oil prices soaring, providing a boost to Russia after Western sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine hit its key energy trade.
Like many nations, Indonesia has come under pressure from soaring global oil prices over the war in the Middle East.
Indonesia, where fuel is heavily subsidised, is an oil producer but nevertheless a net importer.
Last month, Prabowo’s government announced fuel rationing and mandated a day-per-week work-from-home policy for civil servants to conserve energy stocks.
It has vowed not to increase fuel prices this year.
Jakarta, while defending a non-aligned diplomatic posture, last year joined the BRICS bloc of emerging economies that includes Russia and US-rival China.
But Prabowo has also signed a trade deal with US President Donald Trump and joined his so-called “Board of Peace”.
