Russian President, Vladimir Putin has strategically engaged in recent diplomatic maneuvers in Asia, amidst increasing isolation on the international stage.
In a move that can be interpreted as a strategic maneuver to showcase Russia’s diplomatic agility and its capability to forge alliances beyond Europe, where it faces isolation due to geopolitical tensions, Vladimir Putin has arrived in Vietnam on the final stop of his two-nation tour of Asia.
His arrival in Vietnam, following a high-profile visit to Pyongyang, underscores Moscow’s intent to strengthen ties with longstanding allies and signal its relevance in regional geopolitics.
By engaging with Vietnam and other Asian nations, Putin aims to assert Russia’s influence in Asia and counterbalance Western pressure.
Putin was greeted by dignitaries upon his arrival.
In an article written for the official newspaper of Vietnam’s Communist Party, 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 non-interference in their domestic affairs.”
He also thanked “Vietnamese friends for their balanced position on the Ukrainian crisis,” in the article released by the Kremlin.
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.
The visit has drawn criticism from the US, among Vietnam’s top trade partners.
The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi stated that “no country should give Putin a platform to promote his war of aggression and otherwise allow him to normalize his atrocities.”
It added that if Putin is allowed to travel freely it “could normalize Russia’s blatant violations of international law.”
According to Nguyen Khac Giang, an analyst at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Putin’s recent visits to China and now North Korea and Vietnam are attempts to “break the international isolation.”
Meanwhile, Giang said that Russia is important to Vietnam for two reasons, stating that it is the biggest supplier of military equipment to the Southeast Asian nation, and Russian oil exploration technologies help maintain its sovereignty claims in the contested South China Sea.
Also, Prashanth Parameswaran, a fellow with the Wilson Center’s Asia Program, opined that “Russia is signaling that it is not isolated in Asia despite the Ukraine war, and Vietnam is reinforcing a key traditional relationship even as it also diversifies ties with newer partners.”
Nonetheless, Parameswaran said that Vietnam has to “carefully calibrate what it does with Russia in an environment of rising tensions between Washington and Moscow” as it needs support from the U.S. to advance its economic ambitions and diversify its defense ties.
Given Putin’s international isolation, Vietnam is doing the Russian leader a “huge favor and may expect favors in return,” Andrew Goledzinowski, the Australian Ambassador to Vietnam, noted on social media platform X.
He said that it would have been hard for Vietnam to decline the visit since Putin was already in Asia and Vietnam has historical ties with the former Soviet Republic, but said that it was unlikely that the two would be strategic partners again.
“Vietnam will always act in Vietnam’s interests and not anyone else’s,” he wrote.
Putin Set To Discuss Collaboration
According to a report from Russian news agency, 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.
Hanoi and Moscow have had diplomatic relations since 1950, and this year marks 30 years of a treaty establishing “friendly relations” between Vietnam and Russia.
Putin is also scheduled to meet Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, as well as the state President, To Lam, and the Prime Minster, Pham Minh Chinh.
The Russian leader will attend wreath laying ceremonies, including at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum housing the embalmed corpse of Vietnam’s founding leader.
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