Why Wong-Putin meet doesn’t mean Singapore’s going soft on Russia

Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s trip to Russia as part of an Asean delegation to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin despite the city state’s ongoing sanctions against Moscow was a pragmatic move, analysts said.They pointed to considerations such as the island republic’s role as chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations next year, on top of the region’s search for energy security.Wong met Putin in Kazan for the first time on the sidelines of the Russia-commemorative-summit" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="143594" data-entity-type="event">Asean-Russia Commemorative Summit last week, marking the first high-level exchange between the two.