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HANOI.- The president of Russia, Vladimir Putinsigned several agreements on Thursday with his Vietnamese counterpart, To Lamduring an official visit as part of Moscow’s efforts to strengthen its ties in Asia to compensate for the growing international isolation due to its military actions in Ukraine.
The two signed agreements to increase cooperation in education, science and technology, oil and gas exploration and health. They also agreed to work on a plan to open a nuclear science and technology center in Vietnam.
“Russia attaches great importance to strengthening relations with Vietnam,” said the Russian president after a bilateral meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart, To Lam.
“We have expressed mutual interest in creating a reliable and adequate security architecture in the Asia-Pacific that is based on the principles of not resorting to force, peaceful resolution of disputes and where there is no space for closed political-military blocs“, he claimed.
Putin began a state visit to Vietnam on Thursdayto which Russia has been supplying weapons for decades, a day after signing a defense agreement with North Korea, which worries Westerners.
Relations between Russia and Vietnam have its historical roots in the wars involving the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), which benefited from the military support of its Soviet “big brother” to defeat the capitalist South and unite the country in 1975.
Moscow remains the main supplier of weapons to Vietnambut volumes have declined in recent years, despite rising tensions in the South China Sea, where Hanoi fears Beijing’s expansionist goals.
Putin arrived in Vietnam early Thursday morning, after his exceptional visit to Pyongyang, where Kim Jong Un considers him North Korea’s “best friend.”
The two countries, subject to Western sanctions, They closed a “comprehensive strategic partnership” that provides for mutual assistance “in case of aggression” and a possible strengthening of “military-technical cooperation,” according to Putin.
The United States and its allies fear that this accelerated approach could lead to new deliveries of ammunition and missiles North Koreans to Russia for the war in Ukraine.
Japan said Thursday it was “gravely concerned” about the deal, and the European Union approved a new package of sanctions against Moscow.
After his triumphant welcome in North Korea, Putin received a more formal welcome at the Hanoi presidential palace, with cannon shots and soldiers in formation. Russian flags and an important security device could be seen on the streets of Hanoi to welcome him.
Putin also met with the general secretary of the PCV, Nguyen Phu Trong, considered the most influential personality of the regime. This 80-year-old leader did part of his studies in the Soviet Union in the 1980s.
The Russian leader also participated in a ceremony wreath at the mausoleum of the father of Vietnamese independence, Ho Chi Minh City, as well as a banquet at the opera house, a colonial-style building. He plans to leave the country this Thursday night.
Receive Putin in Vietnam, the subject of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC), could irritate its Western partnersstarting with the United States, which considers the Asian country, with 100 million inhabitants, strategic for the manufacturing and production of semiconductors, among others.
Last year, both the Chinese president, Xi Jinpinglike the North American, Joe Bidenvisited Hanoi. The country tries to maintain the same distance between the two rival superpowersin accordance with the flexible precepts of his so-called “bamboo diplomacy” that combines prudence and pragmatism.
Many things have changed since Putin’s last visit to Vietnam in 2017. Russia now faces a series of US-led sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. The International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant against Putin in 2023 for war crimes. The Kremlin called the order “null and void” and stressed that Moscow does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction.
Putin’s recent visits to China and now North Korea and Vietnam are attempts to “break international isolation”, said Nguyen Khac Giang, an analyst at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.
The United States and its allies have expressed growing concerns about a possible arms deal in which Pyongyang provides Moscow with urgently needed munitions for use in Ukraine in exchange for economic assistance and technology transfers that could increase the threat posed by Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile program.
The two countries deny allegations of arms transfers, which would violate several United Nations Security Council sanctions that Russia has supported in the past.
For its part, Russia is important for Vietnam for two reasons, Giang said: is the largest supplier of military equipment for the Southeast Asian country and Russian oil exploration technology helps maintain their sovereignty claims in the disputed South China Sea.
“Russia is sending the message that it is not isolated in Asia despite the war in Ukraine, and Vietnam reinforces key traditional relationship while diversifying ties with newer partners“, he indicated Prashanth Parameswaranan expert with the Wilson Center’s Asia Program.
AFP and AP Agencies
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