PM Anwar accorded official welcome at Kremlin

MOSCOW: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was accorded an official welcome at the Kremlin, the official working residence of President Vladimir Putin, underscoring a pivotal moment in strengthening diplomatic ties between Malaysia and Russia.

The Prime Minister, who is here on a four-day official visit, arrived at the Kremlin at 1.48pm local time (6.48pm Malaysian time) and was greeted by Putin in the Green Room.

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Both leaders are scheduled to have a restricted meeting, after which, Anwar will have his official working lunch and delegation meeting.

The two leaders are slated to hold a joint press conference later.

Anwar’s entourage includes Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan; Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu; Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Chang Li Kang; Minister of Higher Education Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir; and Minister of Plantation and Commodities Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani and Malaysia’s Ambassador to Russia Datuk Cheong Loon Lai.

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On the Russian side, Putin is accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov, First Deputy Chairman of the Government Denis Manturov, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Maxim Oreshkin, and Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration and Press Secretary Dmitry Peshkov.

More than 80 local media representatives from various agencies are covering the event.

Earlier, Anwar also held a bilateral meeting with his counterpart, Mikhail Mishustin.

Anwar’s official visit to Russia started on May 13 and will last until May 16.- Bernama