Vietnamese President To Lam welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin to Hanoi, promising to strengthen ties for peace and stability in the region as well as the world.
Putin, who was greeted with a 21-gun salute during a military ceremony on Thursday, said strengthening a comprehensive strategic partnership with Vietnam was one of Russia’s priorities.
The visit resulted in a strong rebuke from the United States. Russia faces a series of US-led sanctions over its large-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In 2023, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Putin for war crimes. The Kremlin rejected it as “null and void”, stressing that Moscow does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction.
Reporting from Hanoi, Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng said Vietnam was “very interested in making…Putin feel welcome, but at the same time they have strong relationships with China and the US that they want to protect.”
The Russian leader concluded a defense pact with North Korea a day earlier. But in Vietnam, he only signed agreements to deepen cooperation in the fields of education, science and technology, energy, climate change and health.
“Weapons will be discussed, but not those going to Russia, but those going to Vietnam,” Cheng said. “Vietnam’s military still relies heavily on Russian-made weapons, but has found it increasingly difficult to obtain them, especially since the start of the war in Ukraine.”
“So they will want some guarantees, but there is also pressure on the Vietnamese military to diversify its military dependence on Russia. That’s probably a theme for the trip.”
Warm welcome
Putin arrived at Vietnam’s Presidential Palace on Thursday, where he was greeted by schoolchildren waving Russian and Vietnamese flags.
He shook hands and hugged Lam before a bilateral meeting and a joint media briefing.
The Russian leader is also expected to meet Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong – Vietnam’s most powerful politician – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Parliamentary Chief Tran Thanh Man.
Putin’s recent visits to China and now to North Korea and Vietnam are attempts to “break international isolation”, Nguyen Khac Giang, an analyst at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, told the Associated Press news agency.
The US and its allies have expressed growing concerns about a possible arms deal in which North Korea provides Russia with badly needed munitions for use in Ukraine in exchange for economic assistance and technology transfers that could increase the threat posed by the leader’s nuclear weapons and missile program North Korean Kim Jong Un.
Both countries deny accusations of arms transfers, which would violate multiple United Nations Security Council sanctions.
Meanwhile, Russia is important to Vietnam for two reasons, Giang said: It is the largest supplier of military equipment to the Southeast Asian nation, and Russian oil exploration technologies help maintain its sovereignty claims in the contested South Sea. South China.
“Russia is signaling that it is not isolated in Asia, despite the war in Ukraine, and Vietnam is reinforcing a fundamental traditional relationship, while also diversifying ties with new partners,” said Prashanth Parameswaran, Program Fellow. Asian from the Wilson Center, to AP.
‘Friendly relations’
Vietnam and Russia have maintained diplomatic relations since 1950 and this year marks 30 years of a treaty establishing “friendly relations” between them.
Evidence of this long relationship and its influence can be seen in Vietnamese cities like the capital, where the many Soviet-style apartment blocks are now dwarfed by skyscrapers and a statue of Vladimir Lenin, the founder of the Soviet Union, stands tall. if in a park where kids skateboard every night.
Many of the top leaders of the Communist Party in Vietnam studied at Soviet universities, including party chief Trong.
Bilateral trade between Russia and Vietnam was valued at $3.6 billion in 2023, compared to $171 billion with China and $111 billion with the US.
Since the early 2000s, Russia has accounted for about 80% of Vietnam’s arms imports. This value has declined over the years due to Vietnamese attempts to diversify their supplies. But moving away from Russia entirely will take time, Giang said.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
