After his visit to North Korea, Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Vietnam. He arrived on Thursday morning (local time) for a state visit to the Southeast Asian country, which has been an ally of Russia since Soviet times.
At the start of his talks in Hanoi, Putin met with Vietnamese President To Lam. Expanding the strategic partnership with Vietnam is a priority for Russia, said the Kremlin chief, who is visiting the country of nearly 100 million people for the fifth time.
Putin also invited the Vietnamese president to Moscow next year for the 80th anniversary of the victory over Hitler’s Germany. During his visit to the old partner country, Putin will also meet with Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.
Vietnam should buy weapons from Russia
Experts expect Putin to want to expand trade ties and pressure Vietnam to buy weapons from Russia. At the same time, he wants to show that despite the war of aggression against Ukraine, he is not internationally isolated. Ukraine’s ambassador to Hanoi, Olexander Haman, told dpa that he does not expect Vietnam to abandon its neutral position on the war and support Russia. It is one of the principles of Vietnam’s security policy not to take sides.
“Strategic fortress”: solidarity with North Korea renewed
The first stop on Putin’s trip to Asia was North Korea, where the express intention was to support the war in Ukraine. According to Western findings, Russia buys ammunition and weapons in the isolated communist country.
What is less clear is what technical assistance Russia will provide to North Korea in return. In the West, but also in China, this is viewed with suspicion. North Korea is working on its own nuclear weapons. Putin and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un signed a strategic partnership agreement on Wednesday.
Source: Krone
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