Putin arrives in Vietnam for state visit condemned by US

Vladimir Putin has arrived in Vietnam for talks with its communist leaders on the final stop of his two-nation tour of Asia after signing a defence pact with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un.

The Russian president’s plane touched down at Hanoi airport where he was met on a red carpet by Vietnamese deputy prime minister Tran Hong Ha and top party diplomat Le Hoai Trung.

The visit has drawn criticism from the US, among Vietnam’s top trade partners, which has warned it risks normalising Russia’s “blatant violations of international law”.

According to a report from Russian news agency Tass, Putin is set to discuss collaboration in “trade and economic, scientific, technological and humanitarian areas” as well as to exchange views on key issues on the international and regional agenda.

In an opinion piece to coincide with his visit, published in Vietnam’s Communist party newspaper Nhan Dan, Putin listed progress on payments, energy and trade between the countries. He also applauded Vietnam for supporting “a pragmatic way to solve the crisis” in Ukraine.

Vietnam’s leadership favours a so-called “bamboo diplomacy” – which sways with the winds, and avoids picking sides in international disputes – including in relation to Ukraine, and the rivalry between the US and China.

Vietnam, a manufacturing powerhouse, has grown closer to the US and its allies, and last year Communist party leader, Nguyen Phu Trong, hosted US president Joe Biden and upgraded ties with Washington, as well as with Australia and Japan.

Analysts questioned if the visit will bring any tangible benefit to Vietnam, and say it is instead a reflection of the two countries’ historical ties.

Russia is a longstanding friend of Hanoi and Putin will receive a warm welcome in Vietnam, where many still remember the support the Soviet Union gave to Vietnam in past wars against the French and US. The former Soviet Union was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the Vietnamese government of Ho Chi Minh.

Putin was scheduled to meet Trong, who is among many officials who went to study in the Soviet Union, as well as the state president, To Lam, and the prime minster, Pham Minh Chinh. The Russian leader was also due to attend wreath laying ceremonies, including at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum housing the embalmed corpse of Vietnam’s founding leader.

Russia is not a major source of trade for Vietnam, and US sanctions against Russia mean there is a low likelihood of major economic announcement. Trade between the two countries stood at just $3.5bn in 2022 – far less than Vietnam’s $175bn trade with China and $123bn with the United States.

The two countries do have strong energy ties, however, with Russian firms operating in Vietnamese oil and gas in fields in the South China Sea – areas also claimed by China.

Russia is also the biggest supplier of weapons to the country, though arms transfers have fallen over recent years, especially after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

A spokesperson for the US embassy in Hanoi warned ahead of the visit that “no country should give Putin a platform to promote his war of aggression and otherwise allow him to normalise his atrocities.”

The Russian president’s arrival in Vietnam comes after a high-profile visit to Pyongyang, in which he and the North Korean ruler, Kim Jong-un, signed a mutual defence pact.

The agreement includes a clause requiring the countries to come to each other’s aid if either is attacked, raising western concerns about potential Russian aid for North Korea’s missile or nuclear programmes.

Reuters, Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press contributed to this report