BANGKOK, November 23. /TASS/. Russia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will hold the first ever joint naval drills off Indonesia in early December, Russia’s Permanent Representative at ASEAN Alexander Ivanov told TASS on Tuesday.

"The Russia-ASEAN naval drills will take place in the area of North Sumatra in Indonesia’s territorial waters on December 1-3," the envoy said.

"The large anti-submarine warfare ship Admiral Panteleyev will represent Russia in the drills," he specified.

As the envoy explained, the maneuvers aim to practice "interoperability of the Russian Navy and the navies of the ASEAN member states to ensure safe maritime commercial activities and shipping."

"The drills will run in two stages: virtual and naval," the envoy added. Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto is expected to commence the naval maneuvers.

Russia and ASEAN held their fourth summit via a videoconference on October 28. The summit was timed for the 30th anniversary of the relations between Russia and the association celebrated this year. The summit adopted a number of documents aimed at further developing strategic partnership. The leaders approved a decision to hold the first ever Russia-ASEAN naval maneuvers.