June 19, 2024 at 12:11 PM PDT
Vietnam welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin, emphasizing its long-standing relationship with Moscow despite US criticism over the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. Putin arrived in Hanoi on Thursday after visiting North Korea, where he signed a comprehensive strategic partnership with Kim Jong Un, who vowed to “unconditionally” support Russia in the war.
“The visit demonstrates that Vietnam actively implements its foreign policy with the spirit of independence, self-reliance, diversification, and multilateralism,” stated Vietnam’s government website.
Vietnam and Russia have maintained ties dating back to the Soviet Union era. Hanoi is dismissing Western criticism of its invitation to Putin, who last visited Vietnam in 2017 for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.
The US Embassy in Hanoi stated on Monday that “no country should give Putin a platform to promote his war of aggression and otherwise allow him to normalize his atrocities.”
During his visit, the Russian president is expected to participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and meet with officials, including Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and President To Lam, according to Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Vietnam has long relied on Russia for military equipment, including aircraft and submarines. However, since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Vietnam has refrained from purchasing Russian arms due to concerns over Western sanctions, noted Carl Thayer, emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia.
Hanoi will seek reassurances that Russia’s growing ties with China are “not going to be at the expense of Vietnam,” Thayer added.
Although Russia is not a major trading partner for Vietnam — with Vietnamese exports to Russia last year amounting to less than $2 billion compared to $97 billion to the US — Moscow is seen as a counterbalance to both Beijing and Washington. The US is viewed as an ideological “opponent” by Hanoi, while China’s claims to waters off Vietnam’s coast threaten its sovereignty, explained Alexander Vuving, an Asia expert at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii.
“Russia can alleviate pressure from both the US and China by giving Vietnam support,” Vuving said. “They can get arms from Russia.
State-owned Russian companies have long been at the forefront of Vietnam’s efforts to protect its sovereignty in the South China Sea.”
Vietnam has leveraged the backing of Russian firms to explore and drill for oil and gas in the South China Sea, often facing Chinese aggression.
In 2019, China repeatedly sent coast guard ships and a survey vessel to an energy block off Vietnam’s coast operated by Russia’s state-owned Rosneft PJSC. The previous year, PetroVietnam ordered Spain’s Repsol SA to halt work on a project off Vietnam’s southern coast, which Bloomberg Intelligence called “an unexpected capitulation to geopolitical pressure applied by China.”
“The Russians have stood their ground” in the South China Sea, Vuving noted.
State-owned Vietnam Oil and Gas Group, or PetroVietnam, has also signed a deal with Russia’s state energy giant Gazprom PJSC for oil drilling and exploration. Vietsovpetro, a joint venture between Vietnam and Russia, operates the Southeast Asian country’s largest oil field.
Vietnam, one of nine Southeast Asian countries that abstained from condemning Russian violence in Ukraine last year, has maintained a neutral stance on the war, calling for diplomacy to resolve the conflict.
Vietnamese Premier Chinh met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy last year on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima. Many Vietnamese government officials and business executives have studied in Ukraine and Russia. Around 60,000 Vietnamese live in Russia, according to Vietnam’s government.
While hosting Putin is “risky” for Vietnamese officials, Vuving said, “they have to take the risk and stay loyal to Russia.”