HANOI – Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Vietnam early today for talks with the country’s Communist leaders on the final stop of his two-nation tour of Asia after concluding a defence pact with North Korea.
Putin’s aircraft touched down at Hanoi’s airport, where he was met on a red carpet by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha and top party diplomat Le Hoai Trung.
Vietnam, which officially pursues a neutral foreign policy it calls “bamboo diplomacy” in its relations with world powers, has abstained from condemning Russia’s attack on Ukraine, a stance that Western countries view as too close to the Kremlin.
As well as praising Vietnam for its “balanced” stance on the Ukraine war, Putin listed progress on payments, energy and trade between the countries in the article published in Vietnam’s Communist Party newspaper Nhan Dan.
“President Putin’s visit to North Korea and Vietnam is to demonstrate that Western attempts to isolate Russia are not working and that Russia has partners in Asia,” said Carl Thayer, an expert on Vietnam security at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra.
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