# Russia Courts Southeast Asia as It Reroutes Trade Around Sanctions

Moscow praised a business forum with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as Brunei's sultan proposed energy and tourism cooperation.

- Published: 2026-06-18T10:14:24.629Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/2026-06-18/russia-courts-southeast-asia-as-it-reroutes-trade-around-san
- Publisher: Polylog (Global desk)
- Section: world
- Sources: [TASS](https://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/27799937), [TASS](https://tass.ru/ekonomika/27800049)

Russian officials [described](https://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/27799937) a business forum between Russia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as a strong success, presenting it as evidence that Moscow is finding willing commercial partners despite Western sanctions. A co-chair of the business council praised the forum's results.

Separately, Russian state media [reported](https://tass.ru/ekonomika/27800049) that the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, proposed cooperation with Russia in energy and tourism and welcomed expanded student exchanges. The overtures fit a pattern of Russia deepening ties with non-Western economies to protect its commerce from sanctions.

These are incremental steps rather than major agreements, and they come from Russian sources presenting them favorably. But taken together they illustrate the slow reordering of Russian trade toward regional blocs and partners outside the Western financial system, a process that gradually reduces the reach of dollar-based sanctions.

## What this means

Russia's shift toward Southeast Asia is part of a longer effort by sanctioned economies to build commerce that does not depend on Western banks or the dollar. Each individual deal is small, but the cumulative effect, if it continues, is a gradual erosion of the leverage that dollar-centered sanctions provide.

## What to watch

- Whether the forum produces concrete contracts rather than statements of intent.
- Any energy agreements between Russia and Brunei or other ASEAN states.
- Payment mechanisms that bypass the dollar, the real measure of sanctions resilience.