Jakarta: Fresh from conveying new warnings that stern to Russia for Ukraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Indonesia on Monday to find a major helper to Russian President Vladimir Putin in Jakarta for security talks.
Only the day after joining seven foreign ministers in issuing blunt demand for Russia to withdraw from military escalation near the border of Ukraine, Blinken began a 48-hour visit to Indonesia with his aircraft parking in the shadow of Putin National Security Advisor Nikolay Patrushev.
Patrushev is considered the third most senior official in the Russian government.
Shortly before Blinken Landed, the Russian Embassy in Jakarta announced Patrushev’s visit, said he would be in the Indonesian capital for the same two days as American diplomats.
The time means that the Patrushev meeting will coincide with the main plan of Blinken to give Tuesday on the Biden Administrative Indo-Pacific strategy.
There is no indication that the two men might meet in Jakarta.
There is also no indication that either will recognize the presence of others in Indonesia, which is the headquarters of the associations of the Southeast Asian nations and major regional security players.
Blinken met on Monday afternoon with Indonesian President Joko Widodo before a full waste of events on Tuesday, including speeches.
The Russian Embassy said Patrushev’s main falsification in Indonesia was the Minister of Law and Security Mohammad Mahfud.
Blinken went to Jakarta from a group of seven Foreign Minister’s meeting at Liverpool, England, where he and his colleagues told Russia on Sunday to “reduce the” military buildup near the Ukrainian border.
The G-7 calls Russia to “de-espalate, chasing a diplomatic channel, and complies with its international commitment to transparency of military activities,” and praised the “restraint” of Ukraine.
The ministers warn in a joint statement that “the use of strength to convert strict boundaries is prohibited under international law.
Russia should not doubt that further military aggression against Ukraine will have severe consequences and severe costs in response.” The statement came after President Joe Biden spoke to Putin in a video call last week and said he had explained that the Russian invasion to Ukraine would have a “awesome” consequence for the Russian economy.
Moscow denied having a plan to attack Ukraine and accused Kyiv of its own design allegedly aggressive.
In front of the current Blinken trip, which at eight days will be the longest foreign journey because it took office, the Department of State officials said they expect the focus to switch from the challenges caused by Russia to China when he moved from the G7 meeting in Liverpool throughout the world to Southeast Asia.
Not immediately clear whether Patrushev’s presence in Indonesia will change it.
In Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, Blinken aims to highlight the importance of ensuring freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, where many of China’s neighbors accused Beijing to penetrate.
Blinken also plans to express a deep US concern about developments in Myanmar, where the military junta took strength shortly after the Biden government took office.
Last week, the court in Myanmar sentenced the Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, which was overthrown in the De Facto coup in February, with two charges.
Proceedings are widely criticized as further efforts by the country’s military ruler to roll back the increase in democracy in recent years.
When Blinken visited Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, Patrushev would be in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
One of the most senior Blinken Helper, the Department of Foreign Ministry’s Counselor, Chollet was in Cambodia last week after the US imposition from a weapons embargo in the country, quoted the deepening of the influence of the Chinese military, corruption and human rights violations.