Vietnam is ready to entertain Putin, but the United States has a wanted warrant to say that "Putin should not move freely"

Lu Lu views the world

2024-06-18 18:20Posted in Shanxi Global Times host, reporter

Recently, news came from the Kremlin that Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to visit Vietnam from the 19th to the 20th of this month. As soon as this news came out, the United States could not sit still, and the spokesman of the US Embassy in Vietnam hurriedly jumped out to express his dissatisfaction, saying that "there should be no propaganda opportunities for Putin's 'war of aggression'." Moreover, if Putin is able to move freely, it will be a tacit acquiescence in Russia's violation of international law."

It has been learned that Putin will meet with Vietnam's new President Surin and other high-level Vietnamese officials during his trip. At present, Vietnam is actively preparing for Putin's visit. On social media, there is also a photo circulating, although it is not confirmed, it can be seen that the Russian Il-96 passenger plane has appeared at the international airport of the Vietnamese capital.

The British media also noticed Putin's visit, saying that this was Putin's second visit to Vietnam after seven years, which shows how close the relationship between Vietnam and Russia is. According to an official familiar with the matter, "Russia and Vietnam are expected to announce some agreements on trade, investment, technology, etc., but the specific results will have to wait for the final notification."

There are also Russian scholars who believe that "Putin's visit to Vietnam is mainly concerned with trade and investment, especially the establishment of Russian enterprises in Vietnam." Of course, the meeting between Putin and Vietnam may also touch on more sensitive topics such as energy development, banking deals, and arms supplies. However, at present, Western countries have imposed financial sanctions on Russia, and Russia and Vietnam will face many challenges in terms of transactions.

Although it is unclear whether Russia and Vietnam will issue a joint statement on these issues, an Australian expert speculates that "the leaders of Russia and Vietnam may agree to conduct transactions through the banking system using rubles and Vietnamese directly."

Putin's visit to Vietnam may reflect Vietnam's "balanced foreign policy of not favoring any major country." Although Vietnam was seen by the West as "close to Russia" because it did not condemn Russia's military actions in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the EU has also investigated the absence of trade activities between Vietnam and Russia that violate Western sanctions.

Vietnam did not send anyone to the just-concluded summit on Ukraine, but it did send its deputy foreign minister to attend the BRICS meeting in Russia.

In addition, it is worth mentioning that last month, Vietnam postponed a meeting with a European envoy because of Putin's possible visit. There is information that Vietnam fears that the talks with the EU envoy will "disrupt" Putin's visit.

In September last year, U.S. President Joe Biden visited Vietnam for the first time after taking office and signed an agreement with Vietnam to upgrade the relationship to a "comprehensive strategic partnership," making the United States the fifth country after China, Russia, India and South Korea to establish such relations with Vietnam. Although the escalation of US-Vietnam relations has a certain symbolic significance, it does not mean a fundamental change in the direction of Vietnam's diplomacy, because Vietnam has always pursued a foreign policy that balances the major powers, which is more in line with its national interests.

At that time, the US media also commented that although Biden's trip to Vietnam was short, it would "have a significant impact" on the United States to "counter China". However, the New York Times pointed out that Vietnam is unlikely to join an alliance against China, because Vietnam's policy is not to join any military alliance, not to form alliances with any country against other countries, not to allow foreign countries to build military bases on its territory, and not to use force in international relations.

During Biden's visit to Vietnam, the United States also claimed that it would "help Vietnam get rid of its dependence on Russian weapons." However, Vietnam's relations with Russia are deep and long-standing, relations between the two countries were established back in Soviet times, and Vietnam is a major buyer of Russian weapons.

This statement by the United States seems to help Vietnam achieve military modernization, but in fact it is difficult to achieve it, because the Vietnamese army's main battle weapons rely on Russia for logistical maintenance, and to replace Russian-made weapons with Western-style weapons is not only costly for Vietnam, but also requires time to train the corresponding operation and maintenance personnel. Therefore, Vietnam will still rely on Russian-made weapons for some time to come, not to mention the fact that the foundation for cooperation between the United States and Vietnam is not solid.

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