Putin seeks ‘security architecture’ for Asia

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he wanted to build a “reliable security architecture” in the Asia-Pacific region during a state visit to Vietnam yesterday, part of a trip to Asia seen as show of defiance to the West.

A day after signing a mutual defence agreement with North Korea, Putin received a 21-gun salute at a military ceremony in Vietnam, was embraced by two of its Communist leaders and lavishly praised by one of them.

Putin had contributed to “peace, stability and development” in the world, Vietnam’s president said.

Putin’s visit has drawn criticism from the United States and its allies, who treat the Russian leader as a pariah and have protested that he should not be given a stage on which to defend Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Russia and Vietnam signed agreements on issues including energy, underlining Moscow’s pivot to Asia after the West imposed sanctions on Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine.

“We are firmly committed to deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership with Vietnam, which remains among the priorities of Russia’s foreign policy,” Putin was quoted as saying by Russian media.

He was quoted by Russia’s TASS news agency as saying the two countries shared an interest in “developing a reliable security architecture” in the region based on not using force and peacefully settling disputes with no room for “closed military-political blocs”.

The 11 pacts signed in Hanoi were not on the same level as the landmark mutual defence agreement in North Korea.

But Putin’s warm welcome was a public relations achievement for the Russian leader, who has an outstanding International Criminal Court arrest warrant against him over alleged war crimes in Ukraine, charges he denies. Neither Russia nor Vietnam is a member of the ICC.

The military ceremony put on to greet Putin, who was embraced by both Vietnamese President To Lam and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, was the kind reserved for the highest heads of state and rolled out when US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Vietnam last year.

The two presidents witnessed the exchange of 11 cooperation agreements and memorandums of understanding, including deals on oil and gas, nuclear science and education.

At another event, Lam said Putin continued to lead Russia “overcoming all difficulties and challenges, at the same time contributing to the peace, stability and development in the region and the world.”

Vietnam’s hosting of Putin was criticised by the United States, now an important partner which upgraded diplomatic relations with Hanoi last year and is Vietnam’s top export market, and by the EU.

A US embassy statement this week said no country should be giving Putin a platform to promote Russia’s war in Ukraine.

An EU delegation spokesperson in Vietnam said Hanoi had the right to develop its own foreign policy, but said Russia’s war in Ukraine proved Moscow did not respect international law.