MUARA, Wednesday, 14 November 2018 – The Navy Staff Talks (NST) between Royal Brunei Navy (RBN) and Russian Navy held its first meeting today at Naval Training Centre (NTC), Muara Naval Base. The 1st NST is co-chaired by Commander Khairil Haji Abdul Rahman, RBN, Commandant Naval Training RBN and Captain 1st Rank Sergei Vavilov, Chief of International Military Cooperation, Russian Navy. Also joining the meeting are Noorserena Fiona binti Haji Omar from Corporate Legal Unit, Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) & Hajah Nor Hasimah binti Haji Mohammad Noor from Defence Policy, MINDEF.
A welcoming address was given by Captain Zil Husam bin Haji Abdul Rahman, RBN, Fleet Commander of RBN in which he congratulated the Russian Federation on the recent Unity Day held on the 4th of November that commemorated the end of the Time of Troubles and turning point of the Polish-Muscovite War. The NST between RBN and Russian Navy is the first ever meeting held between both navies, and the RBN Fleet Commander highlighted the strong bilateral relations between the leaders of both Brunei Darussalam and Russian Federation. He mentioned that bilateral relations had grown since 1991, and this can be seen in the remarkable progress especially in defence relations in which several activities had occurred since 2016, such as the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Military-Technical Cooperation during ASEAN-Russia Summit on 19 May 2016 as well as the signing of the Agreement on Mutual Protection of the Results of Intellectual Activity and Intellectual Property Protection in the Course of Bilateral Military-Technical Cooperation on 4 April 2018 in Moscow, Russia. The RBN Fleet Commander had also mentioned visits and bilateral exercises that had occurred between both navies and countries, and stated that this meeting will open up more opportunities for defence cooperation.
Captain 1st Rank Sergei Vavilov expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome the Russian Navy delegation have received in Brunei Darussalam and highlighted that the Russian Navy is very humble to participate in the first ever talks held between both navies.
The Russian Navy delegation visited Brunei Darussalam Maritime Museum in Kota Batu and the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) Museum in Bolkiah Garrison in the afternoon. A welcoming dinner reception was then held in the evening at All Seasons Restaurant, Times Square in which it was also joined by the non-resident Military, Air and Naval Attaché from the Embassy of the Russian Federation, Colonel Dmitry Gurov.
The 1st NST will discuss matters on international military cooperation, experience-exchanges, training, upcoming visits from both navies and countries in 2019, bilateral exercises, and other fields of cooperation and mutual perspectives over the next few days. In addition, the Russian Navy delegation will make cultural visits during their stay in Brunei Darussalam.
