Putin vows to shore up ties with Vietnam

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that strengthening strategic ties is one of his priorities during a state visit to Vietnam, as Moscow seeks to bolster relations with Asian states.

Hanoi and Moscow have had diplomatic relations since 1950, and this year marks 30 years of the establishment of friendly relations between Vietnam and Russia.

Putin and his Vietnamese counterpart To Lam signed agreements to further cooperation on education, science and technology, oil and gas exploration and health. They also agreed to work on a road map for a nuclear science and technology center in Vietnam.

Putin said he respected dialogue with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, in which he said Vietnam played an active role.

Following the talks, Putin said the two countries share an interest in "developing a reliable security architecture" in the Asia-Pacific region based on peacefully settling disputes and not using force, with no room for "closed military-political blocs".

Putin arrived in Hanoi early in the morning from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, where he and DPRK's top leader Kim Jong-un signed a treaty on a comprehensive strategic partnership.

In the afternoon, Putin met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and later met Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee.

The Russian leader, who is making his first visit to Vietnam since 2017 when he attended an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, said Russia and Vietnam also shared "similar assessments of the situation in the Asia-Pacific region".

Russia is keen to maintain "close and effective cooperation" in energy, industry, technology, education, security and trade, said Russian Ambassador to Vietnam Gennady S Bezdetko on Wednesday, as reported by Vietnamese official media.

Concrete measures

Vietnam's Ambassador to Russia Dang Minh Khoi told Vietnam News Agency that the state visit will strengthen Hanoi-Moscow ties and "an opportunity for the leaders of the two countries to discuss and propose concrete measures to boost bilateral trade and economic cooperation", TASS Russian News Agency reported.

In an article written for Nhan Dan newspaper, Putin vowed to deepen the ties between Moscow and Hanoi and hailed Vietnam as a "strong supporter of a fair world order based on international law, on the principles of equality of all states and noninterference in their domestic affairs".

He also thanked "Vietnamese friends for their balanced position on the Ukrainian crisis", in the article released by the Kremlin.

Since the early 2000s, Russia accounted for about 80 percent of Vietnam's arms imports. This has been declining over the years due to Vietnamese attempts to diversify its supplies.

In September, United States' President Joe Biden visited Hanoi to promote ties. And Putin's trip has resulted in a sharp rebuke from the US embassy in Vietnam.

"The Vietnamese leadership and the Vietnamese people always see Russia as a very good old friend," said Hoang Thi Ha, senior fellow and co-coordinator of the Regional Strategic and Political Studies Programme at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.

Russia remains important to Vietnam as a key military equipment and energy supplier, so Vietnamese leadership would look at the importance of maintaining a good relationship with Russia both for pragmatic and sentimental reasons, she said.

Ha said the rebuke from the US is expected because Washington thinks Moscow is isolated because of the Ukraine crisis.

"The US considers Vietnam a partner in Southeast Asia … and now Vietnam welcomes Putin and it may be seen as giving Russia more … international recognition," Ha said.

Yang Han in Jakarta and agencies contributed to this story.