Moscow at the doorstep? Australia dismisses reports of Russian jets in Indonesia
Moscow at the doorstep? Australia dismisses reports of Russian jets in Indonesi
Australia dismisses Russian jet rumours: no military base within reach of Darwin
Sydney, 15 April 2025 – The Australian government has firmly rejected claims that Russia is in talks with Indonesia to establish a military presence on Biak Island, just under 1,400 kilometres from Darwin.
According to initial reports from Russian military sources, echoed by several regional outlets, Moscow had allegedly initiated secret negotiations for access to the Manuhua airbase, a strategically located site in the southwest Pacific.
“Russian threat in the Pacific? Australia denies but remains on alert”
Moscow at the doorstep? Australia dismisses reports of Russian jets in Indonesia
Australia’s response came swiftly. Defence Minister Richard Marles labelled the rumours “baseless,” confirming that Jakarta had provided no formal indication of any agreement. “We’ve spoken with our counterparts in Indonesia and have been assured that there is no substance to these reports,” Marles told reporters in Sydney.
“Russia-Indonesia: a military base in the Pacific? Canberra breaks its silence”
Strategic echoes in a tense Pacific
Even in the absence of confirmation, the episode highlights Australia’s heightened geopolitical sensitivity, particularly in a region that is rapidly becoming a theatre of major power rivalry.
In the past two years, the growing engagement between Moscow and several Pacific island nations has caught the attention of Canberra, already working to counter China’s influence across the region. The mere suggestion of a potential Russian military footprint just north of Australia has triggered Cold War-era reflexes, in a world increasingly shaped by unstable multipolar tensions.
Moscow at the doorstep? Australia dismisses reports of Russian jets in Indonesia
Opposition leader Peter Dutton, of the Liberal Party, seized the moment to accuse the Labor government of “strategic naïveté” and weak foreign policy oversight. “It wouldn’t be the first time the Pacific caught us off guard. We need less rhetoric and more real deterrence,” Dutton told ABC Radio.
Indonesia in the middle: neutrality or ambiguity?
Indonesia’s role remains both central and opaque. In recent years, Jakarta has received multiple offers of military cooperation from extra-regional powers—often formally declined but rarely denied outright.
Australian diplomacy has long pursued a cautious strategy of engagement, backing Indonesia through technical aid and regional cooperation. But it has struggled to turn that relationship into a robust strategic alliance.
Now, Canberra fears that the Pacific’s shifting balance of power might drive certain states to seek external leverage—even just to strengthen their negotiating position. And in an era of muscular diplomacy and sharp rhetoric, even a rumour can spark real-world consequences.
Security high on the agenda at the Brisbane G20
The timing of the incident is notable. Australia is preparing to host the G20 summit in Brisbane this June, where Pacific security will feature prominently alongside green transition efforts and migration policy reform.
In this context, the Russian spectre provides Canberra an opportunity to assert itself as a responsible regional power, while gently signalling that Indonesia’s equivocation won’t be tolerated indefinitely.
While security briefings focus on nautical miles and jet range calculations, everyday life in Australia ticks on with decidedly less geopolitical concerns.
In Auckland, for instance, the inaugural Oceania Seabirds Symposium opened yesterday. The event brings together scientists, Indigenous leaders and environmentalists from across the region to discuss the plight of boobies, frigatebirds and tropical petrel, innocent victims of ocean acidification and drifting plastic.
As if that weren’t enough, Australian federal authorities also launched a targeted operation against illegal tobacco trafficking. Beyond disrupting the black market, the crackdown is also framed, probably, as a symbolic step in reducing CO₂ emissions from cigarette combustion.
Whether seabirds and smuggled cigarettes will soothe those fearing Russian jets two hours from Darwin remains to be seen. But in the intricate mosaic of national security, even feathers and smoke can carry surprising weight.
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