Abstract. Humanitarian policy plays a significant role in shaping and promoting a state’s national interests in the international arena. It makes it possible to establish and develop human ties and contributes to the strengthening of cultural and scientific ties between countries and peoples. Russia seeks to build up its positions in various regions of the world, paying special attention to relations with Southeast Asian countries, including humanitarian cooperation. Its successful implementation in large part hinges upon historical background of humanitarianties. However, the current elites of Southeast Asian states formed back in the 1990s – 2000s when Russia distanced itself from many cooperation mechanisms. Since the early 2020s, Moscow has been trying to strengthen its humanitarian presence in all spheres – in the field of cultural, scientific, and business cooperation. Official institutes, such as “Rossotrudnichestvo” Federal Agency, and civil society groups, such as the Center for Public and Business Cooperation with Myanmar, are involved in strengthening humanitarian ties between Russia and Southeast Asia. Other extraregional players are also actively working in Southeast Asia, and Russia has to compete with them in the humanitarian sphere and offer cooperation formats, especially those that meet the interests of young people.