Sergey Lavrov, the appearing Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, was warmly received at Phuket International Airport by a welcoming committee spearheaded by Amnuay Pinsuwan, Phuket’s Vice Governor.
Lavrov’s go to is labelled by expectation as he lands on Thai soil to inaugurate the already functioning Russian consulate at Boat Lagoon in Koh Kaew, despite the absence of further particulars about his journey. His tenure as Foreign Minister, relationship back to 2004, crowns him the longest-serving diplomat since the Tsarist instances, even outliving any Soviet-era overseas minister’s terms.
His presence on the Thai island traces again to an obvious surge within the inflow of Russian vacationers and residents making themselves home in Phuket. As said by the Ministry of Tourism & Sports, inside the span of the first five months of this yr, Thailand has received 740,840 visits from Russian nationals.
Whereas Phuket alone witnessed the entry of 25,947 Russian visitors this June, a minor 2.6% dip from ay’s 26,624 guests, reported Phuket Immigration. These figures put Russian arrivals because the second highest to go to Phuket up to now month, outmoded solely by Chinese, recording 44,066 arrivals in June which is a significant 16.4% hike from May.
In Now at a forum in Jakarta, Lavrov appealed to Southeast Asian nations to collaborate in boosting the languishing commerce with Russia, proposing the utilization of national currencies quite than US$ to manoeuvre around the crippling Western sanctions, as per Nikkei Asia.
After the 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia, sanctions were imposed that resulted in a 4.4% commerce contraction between Russia and the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), in accordance with a press release from the Russian overseas ministry.
Reuters reported that the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on Friday criticised Lavrov for his non-constructive strategy during this week’s assembly between leading diplomats from powerful nations and their Southeast Asian counterparts in Jakarta.
Blinken addressed the incident following the ASEAN Regional Forum, which engaged overseas ministers from ASEAN member states and strategic companions like China, the US, India, and Russia. He opined that Lavrov utilised his interventions to launch attacks on Washington, stories The Phuket News..