Analysis: Malaysia cosies up to Russia and invites Putin to ASEAN summit, but ‘bold’ move could ruffle feathers
Russia is willing to improve its match in Southeast Asia, according to Dr. Ian Storey, a senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, because it wants to show the West that its attempts to remove Russia after its conquest of Ukraine have failed, especially in the Global South.
Russia wants to increase oil and natural gas sales to local states in order to evade Western sanctions, he added.  ,
Nevertheless, he stressed that there will be a combined welcome for Russia’s role in the region.  ,
” The Kremlin has some ancient companions in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Since the defense seized power in February 2021, it has also grown closer to Myanmar. However, Dr. Storey claimed that Singapore and the Philippines are still opposed to Soviet anger against Ukraine.  ,
Some nations that have hosted Mr. Putin since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have even received criticism from the US.
Washington, for instance, said that no country may grant Mr. Putin” a platform to promote his war of aggression against Ukraine,” a comparable position it took earlier in 2024 when hosting the Russian president.  ,
During his working visit, PM Anwar even invited Mr Putin to go next month’s ASEAN Summit, which will be chaired by Malaysia. Another conferences, such as the ASEAN-China Summit, the ASEAN-US Summit, and the East Asia Summit, are usually included in the ASEAN Summit.
Russia, US and China are users of the East Asia Summit.  ,
Anwar made a strong move by inviting Putin to the East Asia Summit, as some of ASEAN’s Dialogue Partners does harm to boycott the event if the Russian president visits, according to Dr. Storey.
He did point out that Mr. Putin simply ever personally attended the East Asia Summit in Singapore during the 2018 summit, and that Russia is likely to take Sergey Lavrov instead for the summit in 2019.  ,
Given that Russia and the US are tasked with operating in two opposing camps, Mr. Anwar’s proposal to Mr. Putin may raise questions in some local nations, according to Dr. Azmi Hassan, a senior fellow at the Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research.  ,
Malaysia does hold the ASEAN Chair next year, which will complicate matters for the US, especially since it will be difficult for the country to work alongside Putin and Xi, despite Anwar’s claims that he wants to display neutrality,” said the political analyst.
ANWAR’S BRICS AMBITIONS STAYING CONSISTENT TO NEUTRALITY?
Researchers told CNA that Mr Anwar’s attend to Russia is primarily to highlight Malaysia’s foreign legislation which embraces the rule of “neutrality” and being “everybody’s friend”. They added that the prime minister was eager to repeat Malaysia’s desire to join the BRICS cluster of emerging economies at the same time.  ,
BRICS, established in 2009, first included Brazil, Russia, India, and China, while South Africa joined a year later. It has since expanded to encompass Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
The worldwide organization now accounts for one-fifth of the country’s economy, accounts for one-fifth of world trade, and represents about 40 % of the nation’s population. It contributes to a third of the country’s business.
