SINGAPORE, November 14. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the Russia-ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) summit in Singapore on Wednesday and hold a number of bilateral meetings with Asian leaders.

"We hope that the president will talk ‘on foot’ with his Indonesian counterpart [Joko Widodo], we also hope that there would be a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, of course with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. There will also be a meeting with the Chinese Prime Minister [Li Keqiang] and the prime minister of the Kingdom of Thailand [Prayut Chan-o-cha]," Peskov said.

According to the Kremlin spokesman, Putin’s talks with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, initially scheduled for Tuesday but adjourned due to the Russian leader’s intense schedule, may take place on Wednesday.

Multilateral format

ASEAN currently has ten member nations - Brunei, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and The Philippines. The agenda of the meeting in Singapore includes present-day issues of developing Russia-ASEAN dialogue, issues of trade and economic cooperation, expansion of ASEAN contacts with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), including within the context of creating the Greater Eurasian Partnership.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov earlier told reporters that participants of the summit will also coordinate their positions on issues of promoting stability and security in Asia-Pacific.

"The emphasis will be placed on coordinating efforts to counter modern challenges and threats, first of all terrorism and transnational crime," he said.

According to the official, the leaders will also discuss major international issues, including the nuclear problem of the Korean Peninsula. The Russian side will also inform its partners "about our efforts within the context of the Syrian settlement," Ushakov said.

After the summit, the participants plan to adopt a number of documents, including a joint statement and a statement on cybersecurity.

Russia became ASEAN’s dialogue partner in 1996. The previous Russia-ASEAN summit took place in Sochi in 2016.

Russia-ASEAN trade turnover grew by more than 30% this year, to $18.3 billion.

Japan peace treaty issue

During his visit to Singapore, the Russian leader is also scheduled to meet with participants of the East Asia Summit (EAS), which brings together the ten ASEAN members and its eight dialogue partners (Russia, Australia, India, China, South Korea, New Zealand, the United States and Japan).

The topics that will be discussed during Putin’s talks with the Japanese prime minister on Wednesday were not disclosed. However, the sides are widely expected to raise the longstanding peace treaty issue between Moscow and Tokyo.

During the meeting with Putin, Abe would put forward a proposal to speed up negotiations on the Kuril issue with an aim of signing a framework agreement in 2019 (possibly, during Putin’s visit to the G20 summit meeting in Japan in June), Japan’s Mainichi newspaper has reported, citing Japanese government sources.

Since the mid-20th century, Russia and Japan have been holding consultations in order to clinch a peace treaty as a follow-up to World War II. The Kuril Islands issue remains the sticking point since after WWII the islands were handed over to the Soviet Union while Japan has laid claims to the four southern islands. In 1956, the two countries signed a common declaration on ending the state of war and restoring diplomatic and all other relations, however, a peace treaty has still not been reached. Moscow has stated many times that Russia’s sovereignty over the islands could not be questioned.

During the Eastern Economic Forum’s plenary session on September 12, Putin suggested concluding a peace treaty between Moscow and Tokyo without any preconditions before the end of the year. Commenting on the initiative, the Japanese Foreign Ministry told TASS that Tokyo would engage in talks with Russia on the peace treaty only after the territorial dispute is settled.

South Korea talks

The agenda of Putin’s talks with the South Korean president was also not disclosed. However, the talks are expected to focus both on bilateral issues and Korean settlement.

Speaking at the first Russian-Korean forum of regional cooperation in the South Korean seaport of Pohang, the South Korean leader vowed that his government would go ahead with its efforts to lay the foundation for trilateral cooperation of Moscow, Seoul and Pyongyang. He also thanked the Russian leader for his "firm and strong support of the movement toward peace" in the region.

Putin and Moon Jae-in earlier met in Moscow in June.

Putin’s visit

Putin arrived in Singapore on Tuesday, November 13, and on the first day of his visit met with Singapore’s President Halimah Yacob. Later, the two leaders jointly attended a ceremony to lay the foundation stone of the Russian cultural center and an Orthodox church in Singapore. On Tuesday evening, Putin met with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Bin Mohamad.

Late on November 14, Putin is scheduled to attend a reception for EAS participants. The forum’s session, in which Putin is to take part, will take place on Thursday, November 15.

Putin is paying a visit to Singapore for the first time. This year Russia and Singapore mark the 50th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations. In 2009, Russia’s then President Dmitry Medvedev arrived in the republic on an official visit for the first time in the history of bilateral relations.