Sochi Summit: Russia's Pivot to the East is Too Little Too Late?
( Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev walks with his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen during his official visit to Cambodia last November ) Russian President Vladimir Putin inviting ten ASEAN leaders to Russia to attend the ASEAN-Russia summit in Sochi in May is seen as a historic and as a reaffirming of a new commitment of Russian government toward strengthening the relations with this regional bloc. The Russia-ASEAN Summit, which will be held to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the official dialogue partnership between ASEAN and Russia, is very important in itself since it will be serving as a very special forum to discuss some very important topics such as energy, defense cooperation, food security and disaster prevention and relief. The summit proposed by Russian government essentially illustrates the new effort and commitment of Russian government to get closely engaged with the countries in the Asia Pacific, especially the ASEAN bloc compr