In order to be A World Class University, Department of International Relations Universitas Diponegoro had held an International Webinar 2020 called “Russia’s Position In The Global Stage And Prospect Of Relations With Indonesia” on Monday, 23rd November 2020. The theme was taken in commemoration of the 70th diplomatic relationship between Indonesia and Russia. This event presented some guest speakers, namely: HE Lyudmila Georgievna Vorobieva (Russian Ambassador for Indonesia) and Vitaly Aleksandrovich Glinkin (Director of the Russian Cultural Center), while the event was hosted by Marten Hanura, MPS (Secretary of the International Relations Department).

Prof. Budi Setiyono, Ph.D as the UNDIP Rector’s representative opened the event by saying that Russia as one of the big countries in the world could make a collaboration with Indonesia, which was a rising power one in Asia. Especially, Undip as one of the biggest universities in Indonesia was expected to be able to enhance the cooperation in teaching, research and student exchange programme.

Marten Hanura, MPS (secretary of the International Relations Department) said that Russia was one of those countries which had many roles in the global stage both in international organizations such as the United Nations, WTO, APEC, G8 and regional organizations. Besides, Russia did have a significant contribution dealing with the Covid 19. Marten, then, asked the guest speaker whether Russia wanted to rebuilt its domination as a super power country like it was before 1990, and what the importance of Indonesia to Russia was.

HE Lyudmila Georgievna Vorobieva (Russian Ambassador for Indonesia) replied that based on the foreign policy, Russia must not pursue any label such as a super power country. This was because the concept might bring Russia to be a dominant country in the whole world, yet Russia in its foreign policy supported the Multilateralism that allowed either large or small countries to have an equal position. She also believed that each country had its own national importance which should be respected by other countries. Russia also developed an inclusive security, which meant that the security of a country was not determined by other countries. Meanwhile, Indonesia was considered as a Key Partner to Russia not only in Southeast Asia but also in Asia Pacific. This was because Indonesia had such a significant influence in those area.

Vitaly Aleksandrovich Glinkin (Director of the Russian Cultural Center) explained that the Russian Cultural Center, as one of the Russian institutions in Indonesia, had a mission for enhancing the cooperation in humanity, research, education and culture. The collaboration with the Indonesian government was aimed to make a better understanding between the two countries. Thus, there would be more collaborations in various fields.

Apart from the discussion, there were also performances by the Indonesian Students in Russia (Permira) who made a collaboration with the Russian students. They not only sang the song ‘Rayuan Pulau Kelapa’, which was translated into Russian entitled ‘Ostrova Palm’, but also read some Russian poetry.