The Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, said that his government has asked Indonesia about a report in the Janes Defense publication that Russia requested to base military airplanes in the Indonesian Papua, since the issue dominated Australia’s electoral campaign on Tuesday.
“Obviously we do not want to see the Russian influence in our region,” Albanese told journalists.
Janes reported that Yakarta received an official application from Moscow, looking for permission for the airplanes of the Russian aerospace forces (VKS) to be in an installation in the easternmost province of Papua in Indonesia.
The province is about 1,200 km (746 miles) north of the Australian city of Darwin, where a rotational force of the United States Corp is based for six months a year, and Australian air bases are updated to be host visitors to US bombers.
Australia is “looking for more clarifications” with Indonesia about the report, said Albanese, and added that Canberra has a good relationship with Yakarta.
The Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles has spoken with his Indonesian counterpart that said there would be no Russian Air Force planes based in Indonesia, according to a report by the Broadcasting Corporation Australian.
The spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, Roy Soemira, said that the Ministry has not heard of the report.
The Ministry of Defense of Indonesia and the military spokesmen did not immediately respond to Reuters comments.
The Vice Prime Minister of Russia, Denis Manturov, met with the president of Indonesia, Pabowo Subianto, in the presidential palace in Yakarta on Tuesday, according to a local television report.
Australia Foreign Minister Penny Wong said that “Indonesia is critical for Australian security” and the two countries had reached a defense cooperation agreement last year, he said at a press conference on Tuesday.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, said that, during a campaign stop, the report was worrying and is looking for an informative session of the Australian government on the subject.
