It is largely for these considerations that ASEAN welcomed Russia's accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in November 2004, when Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made a special trip to Vientiane at the time of the ASEAN Summit to sign the instrument of accession. It was also with these in mind that ASEAN agreed to invite President Vladimir Putin to a summit in Kuala Lumpur in December 2005, the first such meeting between ASEAN and Russia. The summit issued a joint declaration, with an accompanying "comprehensive" programme of action; embodying both sides' intention to cooperate in a wide range of areas. In their political portions, the documents emphasized the importance of the role of the United Nations and international law. The agreement on economic and development cooperation that the foreign ministers signed on the same occasion similarly set forth the areas where cooperation was to take place, without saying much by way of specific action. The ASEAN and Russian leaders agreed that their summits would be "regular" without specifying their frequency.