Indonesian leader to visit Russia for arms deal

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is slated to visit Russia in June to materialize the government's plan in buying more Sukhoi jet fighters, a close aide said Thursday.

"The president plans to increase the number of Sukhoi planes to one squadron. The president will meet (Russian President) Vladimir Putin for further talks on this matter in June this year," Minister for State Secretariat Yusril Ihza Mahendra told reporters at the presidential office.

He made the remarks shortly after accompanying Susilo in a meeting with Sergey Mironov, chairman of the Russian Federal Assembly.

Yusril said Susilo and Putin had earlier discussed the matter on the sidelines of the APEC meeting in Busan, South Korea, last year.

Earlier reports said the Indonesian government also plans to buy three new warships from Russia worth about 335 million U.S. dollars, including a corvette, a destroyer and a frigate.

The country's military spending is set at about 28 trillion rupiah (2.83 billion U.S. dollars) this year, up from 23.3 trillion rupiah in 2005. Most of the funds will be channeled to the Navy and the Air Force.

Source: Xinhua