17.02.2023

On February 17, the School of Regional and International Studies of the Far Eastern Federal University held a roundtable on the problems and prospects of the Russian-Myanmar relations. The event was dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Russian Federation and the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.

The roundtable was attended by Dr. Ksenia Efremova, Associate Professor of the Department of Asian and African Studies and Dr. Ekaterina Koldunova, Director of the ASEAN Centre.

The roundtable session was opened by welcoming remarks by Dr. Evgeny Vlasov, the FEFU Vice-Rector for International Relations, Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies, H.E. Lwin U, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Myanmar to Russia, H.E. Nikolay Listopadov Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Myanmar, Mr. Sai Kyaw Nain Oo, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology of Myanmar, and Mr. Aung Ko, Director General of the Political Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar.

Dr. Ksenia Efremova in her presentation focused on the achievements, prospects and problems of contemporary Russian-Myanmar relations. She stressed the invariably friendly nature of Russian-Myanmar relations, which are built on the solid foundation of bilateral cooperation laid back in Soviet times.

Among the characteristic of Russian-Myanmar interaction, the participants noted a common understanding of key political issues of our time (in particular, Russia's special military operation in Ukraine), shared traditional cultural and religious values, mutual interest in learning each other's language and history, and the practice of providing grant assistance in emergency situations (cyclone Nargiz, coronavirus pandemic, etc.) and close economic cooperation under Western sanctions.

Dr. Ekaterina Koldunova in her commentary noted the need to stop the disinformation campaigns against Russia and Myanmar by the Western media and not to succumb to provocations.

MGIMO is actively developing cooperation with the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. On November 22–27, 2022, a delegation of the University headed by Dr. Stanislav Surovtsev, Vice-Rector for Youth Policy, Social Work and International Relations visited Myanmar. The delegation included Dr. Ksenia Efremova, Associate Professor of the Department of Asian and African Studies and Dr. Denis Degterev, Professor of the Department of World Economy.

Department of Asian and African Studies