MOSCOW, May 23. /TASS/. All member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are conducting a dialogue with Russia on issues of military and technical cooperation, Dmitry Shugayev, chief of Russia’s Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation, said on Tuesday.

"In general, Russia’s relations with ASEAN member countries are developing under terms of good neighborliness and mutual benefit. All these countries maintain an active dialogue with the Russian side both on issues of military and technical cooperation and military, economic and political matters," he said ahead of the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (LIMA) Exhibition 2023 in Malaysia.

According to Shugayev, Russia is pursuing a policy of multi-oriented partnerships and has refrained from setting take-it-or-leave-it terms in the areas of military and technical cooperation. "In the current geostrategic situation, Southeast Asian and Asia Pacific nations that don’t want to be drawn into the orbit of American influence consider Russia as the most acceptable partner, and the prospect of cooperating with [our country] is associated with the least amount of risk," he said, adding that Russia has been a full-fledged ASEAN dialogue partner since July 1996.

"Over this period, a legal framework for cooperation has taken shape. The key relevant bodies include the Joint Cooperation Committee, Joint Planning and Management Committee, the Working Group on Trade and Investment Cooperation, and the Working Group on Science and Technology," he said.

Held since 1991 under the auspices of the Malaysian Defense Ministry, with support from the country’s ministries of Transport and International Trade and Industry, the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (LIMA) Exhibition, one the largest arms exhibitions in the Asia Pacific region, is running between May 23 and 27 this year.