PUTRAJAYA: No new discussions have been held with Russia about increasing semiconductor exports to the country, says Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah.

       Malaysian Ambassador to Russia Datuk Bala Chandran Tharman was recently quoted by foreign news outlets as saying that Malaysia would "consider any request" from Moscow for the sale of semiconductors.

       Bala Chandran reportedly said this in an interview with state-backed media outlet RIA Novosti last month.

       "We have scrutinised and received a response from him on the interview. A few things he mentioned in the interview were taken out of context," he said.

       "Malaysia is a country which exports electrical and electronic (E&E) products to a many countries, including Russia.

       "I would like to explain that there are no new discussions about us exporting more semiconductors to Russia," he told the press on Saturday (May 7).

       He said trade relations with Russia were on a business-to-business basis and the government was not involved in these dealings.

       He also said there were no discussions between the Malaysian government and Moscow regarding Russian flagship airline Aeroflot and the SWIFT international payment system.

       "There was no discussion involving the Malaysian government in relation to increasing exports of semiconductor, issues related to SWIFT and direct flights between Malaysia and Russia through Aeroflot," he said, adding that this was to avert any misunderstanding which may affect Malaysia's interests.

       "We don't want any perception or misunderstanding that Malaysia is establishing something new with Russia.

       "Our ties with Russia remain as it is... there are no changes," he said.

       Bala Chandran was previously quoted by Russian news agency Sputnik as saying that the issue of direct flights between the two countries was being discussed in the joint Russian-Malaysian commission on economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation.

       Russian banks had been excluded from the international SWIFT payment and messaging system following the country's invasion of Ukraine.

       Meanwhile, Saifuddin added that Wisma Putra was currently working with Bank Negara Malaysia to find a solution to ensure that Malaysians in Russia had access to financial systems in sanction-hit Russia.

       He said this was to ensure that parents and sponsors were able to send funds to Malaysian students studying there.

       "For the time being our students are using the Union Pay platform," he said, adding that access to the payment medium was very limited.

       The Star reported on March 5, that Malaysian students in Novgorod Oblast and Moscow were facing difficulties withdrawing money from banks that had connections with the United States and Britain as the international banking system had been blocked. Other payment methods had also been disrupted.

       However, students in Volgograd in south-west Russia said there had been little disruption to the financial system in the city.

       Wisma Putra previously said that there were 861 Malaysians based in Russia comprising 784 students, 33 expatriates and 44 from the Malaysian diplomatic mission in Russia and their dependents.