By Deutsche Welle
Jun 20, 2024, 01:53 AM EDT
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Vietnam on his fifth visit to the Southeast Asian country, coming from North Korea where he signed a strategic partnership agreement. The Kremlin chief’s plane landed at the Noi Bai international airport in Hanoi, according to Russian public television, which showed the arrival.
The Russian leader was received at the foot of the plane’s steps by official Vietnamese representatives, after which he boarded a black car with the Russian flag and left alongside the column of vehicles of the Russian delegation.
Putin, who was last in this country in 2017, is scheduled to meet with the secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Nguyen Phu Trong, the most powerful man in the country and an ally of the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
He will also be received on Thursday by the president, the prime minister and the head of the National Assembly, according to the Kremlin in a statement.
Floral offering in memory of the fallen
The Russian leader will also lay a wreath at the memorial to the fallen and at the Mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, the Vietnamese leader who died in 1969.
During his visit, the Russian leader will address the status and development prospects of the “comprehensive strategic partnership” between both countries in the economic, commercial, technological and humanitarian fields, in addition to “exchanging opinions on current international events and the regional agenda.”
Putin and Vietnamese leaders will issue a joint statement and sign around twenty documents on bilateral cooperation.
Putin breaks the image of isolation
With the visit to this country, which maintains a good relationship with the United States, Putin breaks the image of isolation that has accompanied him since the invasion of Ukraine, EFE reported.
Analyst Carl Thayer indicated in an article that “Russia wants to demonstrate to the Western coalition that opposes its intervention in Ukraine that it is not isolated.”
The visit responds to the invitation in March of the General Secretary of the Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, when the two had a telephone conversation.
EFE said that Vietnam has maintained in the last decade a foreign policy nicknamed “bamboo diplomacy” for its ability to maintain good relations with great powers, avoiding taking sides, showing flexibility and taking advantage of its strategic position for its own benefit.
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