{"id":451558,"date":"2026-04-28T13:35:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T11:35:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/04\/28\/kallas-ai-partner-del-sud-est-asiatico-non-comprare-petrolio-dalla-russia\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T15:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T13:03:16","slug":"kallas-urges-southeast-asian-partners-not-to-buy-russian-oil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/04\/28\/kallas-urges-southeast-asian-partners-not-to-buy-russian-oil\/","title":{"rendered":"Kallas urges Southeast Asian partners not to buy Russian oil"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2013 \u201cWe want wars to end. We want peace, and then we do not have these kinds of problems. So, that is why we are advocating for diversifying resources and finding them elsewhere, not from Russia<\/strong>.\u201d This is the direct message that the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas<\/strong>, is delivering in Brunei during the press conference following the 25th ministerial meeting between the EU and the ASEAN countries<\/a> (a bloc comprising Brunei, Cambodia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam). Kallas\u2019s remarks, made before the press, were in response to a question about the interest shown by some ASEAN countries in purchasing Russian oil. “Of course, there is an energy crisis right now in the world,” Kallas noted. “And unfortunately, this energy crisis is benefiting Russia.<\/strong> Just let me remind you that the oil revenues are the revenues that Russia is using to fund this war,” the former Estonian prime minister clarified. \u201cWe have an interest that this war stops. And wars end when aggressors run out of money to finance them<\/strong>, and that is why it is in our interest that the revenues from the Russian oil are actually shrinking. And that is also our message to our partners everywhere in the world that seek stability,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The meeting, held on 27 and 28 April 2026 in Bandar Seri Begawan, also reaffirmed the central importance of economic relations between the two regions. “Trade is a solid foundation<\/strong> for the EU-ASEAN relationship,” Kallas stressed, while warning that “we must go further<\/strong> and focus on security because wars and threats do not respect borders.”<\/p>\n

A dialogue that has lasted for almost five decades and is based on a constantly growing economic partnership. \u201cThe strongest foundation is our growing economic partnership,\u201d the High Representative noted, highlighting how bilateral trade reached \u201calmost 400 billion euros<\/strong>\u201d in 2024. These figures make ASEAN the EU\u2019s third-largest trading partner outside Europe, while the EU ranks third among the Association\u2019s global partners. In terms of agreements, Kallas referred to \u201ctwo free trade agreements in force, with Singapore<\/a> and Vietnam<\/a>, the recent trade agreement with Indonesia<\/a>, and good progress in talks with the Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, according to the parties, cooperation based solely on trade is no longer sufficient<\/strong>. “Today’s discussion focused on how we can deepen our cooperation even further. Areas where this makes most sense are, for example, maritime security, counterterrorism, and cyber defence. We can do more together with full respect for ASEAN\u2019s principles of neutrality and consensus,\u201d Kallas explained, speaking alongside Brunei Darussalam\u2019s Second Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dato Erywan Pehin Yusof,<\/strong> in his capacity as national coordinator for ASEAN-EU dialogue relations.<\/p>\n

In an increasingly complex geopolitical context, the European Union is increasingly turning its attention toward South-East Asia, building on “a common interest in regional stability and a rules-based international order.<\/strong>” And, \u201cin such difficult times for both of us, our discussions at the EU-ASEAN ministerial meeting highlight why greater cooperation and stronger partnerships represent the best way forward,” the High Representative added.<\/p>\n

During the meeting, the ministers reaffirmed their commitment “to international law, including the Charter of the United Nations<\/a> and UNCLOS, <\/a>the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea\u201d, and emphasized the importance of maintaining \u201cpeace, stability and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.\u201d<\/strong> The EU and ASEAN also recognized that safeguarding critical maritime security requires \u201ca concerted and coordinated effort<\/strong>\u201d and, in a joint statement<\/a> on the sidelines of the two-day meetings, they encouraged \u201cenhanced cooperation based on the sharing of best practices, in accordance with international law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, Brussels provided updates on the Global Gateway<\/a>, the 2021 program to develop infrastructure in developing countries, highlighting investments in sustainable infrastructure, clean energy, and digital connectivity in Southeast Asia. ASEAN welcomed these initiatives, viewing them as a “contribution to the region\u2019s inclusive and long-term growth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bilateral trade between the two sides reached \u201calmost \u20ac400 billion\u201d in 2024. EU High Representative Kallas said: \u201cTrade is a solid foundation\u201d for the relationship, but \u201cwe must go further\u201d. The focus is on maritime security, the fight against terrorism and cyber defence<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7896,"featured_media":451545,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25707],"tags":[32133,33901,26453,33830,33902,33394],"class_list":["post-451558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-politics","tag-asean-en","tag-barein","tag-cooperation-en","tag-kaja-kallas","tag-sud-est-asiatico","tag-ue"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7896"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=451558"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":451559,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451558\/revisions\/451559"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}