Latest updates, insights, and analysis.
The BRICS countries are continuing their plans to establish a grain exchange, to divert agricultural trade away from Western platforms. The BRICS both produce and consume about 44% of the world’s total markets for corn, wheat and rice, with members Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and Russia amongst the world’s largest producers and consumers.
The Moscow Stock Exchange is to start trading futures on South Korea’s iShare market from July 9, which includes hi-tech companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
India’s oil imports from Russia increased by an additional 750,000 barrels of Russian crude during June, an amount equivalent to a weeks consumption by a market the size of Singapore.
The Russia-ASEAN business forum was held last week with important geopolitical strategic agreements signed in energy, supply chains, finance, and trade and a 2026-2020 Comprehensive Action Plan. We examine all these initiatives and provide a country-by-country breakdown of deals agreed on a multilateral and bilateral basis with Russia. It is essential reading for anyone involved in ASEAN and Asian affairs.
The United Kingdom will shortly have a new, if unelected Prime Minister. We look at the credentials of Andrew Burnham and the prospects for his relations with Vladimir Putin and Russia.
The Eurasian Economic Union is considering the applications of Myanmar, Nicaragua and Venezuela to become ‘Observer’ states to the EAEU, with several other countries, including India, Israel, Egypt, Tunisia, Pakistan, and Cambodia all negotiating Free Trade Agreements.
Russia is interested in investing in and developing rare earth mineral mining facilities in Central Asia, but is facing competition from the European Union and United States. That has morphed into an ideological struggle with Russia wary of Western ‘colonial’ political developments in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in particular.
Russia and Vietnam are considering the construction of new Gepard-class Frigates for the Vietnamese Navy, with the vessels likely to be built in Vietnamese shipyards under Russian enegineering supervision.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has met with Malagasy Foreign Minister Alice N’Diaye in Moscow to discuss trade development. We detail the current bilateral relations and plans to increase bilateral trade – currently running at about US$500 million per annum.
Vietnam’s Prime Minister Le Minh Hung has invited the Russian President, Vladimir Putin to Vietnam to attend the 2026 APEC conference, the second senior ASEAN official to extend invitations in the past three days. APEC is attended by 21 countries leaders – including the United States.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been invited to the Philippines in November to attend the annual ASEAN summit. Philippines President Marcos extended the invitation following the success of the Russia-ASEAN summit which has just concluded in Moscow. Bilateral trade ties are relatively small at present but a Putin visit is likely to accelerate these ties.
Russia-China bilateral trade has grown 23% year on year in the period January-May 2026, as the trade mix diversifies. This data suggests total bilateral trade for the year will reach just over US$280 billion.
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