Russian President Vladimir Putin was welcomed to Vietnam with a 21-gun salute during a military ceremony on Thursday (06/20/2024), as one of the communist country’s top leaders praised the comprehensive strategic partnership with Moscow and promised closer ties with Moscow. Putin, who arrived in Vietnam at dawn, is on the last stop of his brief Asian tour after concluding a defense pact with North Korea.
Vietnamese President To Lam congratulated Putin on his re-election and praised Russia’s achievements, including “domestic political stability,” during their meeting in Hanoi. “Once again, we congratulate our comrade for receiving overwhelming support during the recent presidential elections, underscoring the confidence of the Russian people,” Lam said.
Putin responded by saying that strengthening a comprehensive strategic partnership with Vietnam was one of Russia’s priorities. The Russian leader said he respects the dialogue with the regional bloc, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), in which he said Vietnam plays an active role. Putin gave a speech focused on the possibilities of cooperation, commercial, energy, etc., between both countries.
Vietnam’s embrace of Putin has drawn criticism from a key partner, the United States, which improved diplomatic relations with Hanoi last year and is Vietnam’s main export market. A US Embassy statement earlier in the week said no country should give Putin a platform to promote Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Vietnam is the third country that Putin visits since he assumed his fifth term in May, following his trip to China and his meeting in North Korea with Kim Jong-un. It is also Putin’s fifth visit to Vietnam as president. With the visit to this country, Putin intends to break, according to some analysts, the image of isolation that has accompanied him since the invasion of Ukraine. Although the Russian president has an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for war crimes that limits Putin’s travel abroad, Vietnam does not belong to this body, so it has no obligation to arrest the Russian leader.
lgc (rtr, efe, afp)
