Putin arrives in Vietnam after signing defense pact with North Korea

• Russian leader Vladimir Putin lands in Hanoi.
• Russia-North Korea ties cause ‘great concern’, US says.
• Putin’s reception is likely to be held in Vietnam.

HANOI: Russian President Vladimir Putin landed in Vietnam on Thursday for a state visit, a day after signing a mutual defense pact with North Korea.

Putin signed a strategic treaty with Kim Jong Un at a summit in Pyongyang, which included a pledge to help each other in the event of an attack.

Washington and its allies accuse North Korea of ​​supplying ammunition and missiles to Russia for its war in Ukraine, and the deal sparked fears of more deliveries.

The State Department said deepening Russia-North Korea ties were of “great concern,” while a senior Ukrainian official accused Pyongyang of supporting Moscow’s “mass murder of Ukrainians.”

Making his first visit to the reclusive North in 24 years on Wednesday, Putin said he did not rule out “military-technical cooperation” with Pyongyang, which like Moscow is under heavy international sanctions.

“Today, we are fighting together against the hegemony and neo-colonial practices of the United States and its satellites,” Putin said.

The two countries have been allies since North Korea’s founding after World War II and have grown even closer since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine isolated Putin on the world stage.

Kim called Putin “the dearest friend of the Korean people” and pledged his “full support and solidarity” for the war in Ukraine, which has prompted a flurry of UN sanctions against Moscow.

Putin thanked his host — whose country has been under UN sanctions since 2006 over its banned weapons programs — saying Moscow appreciated the “consistent and unwavering” support.

Putin called for a review of UN sanctions on North Korea and said the two countries would not submit to “blackmail” by the West.

Reacting to the Pyongyang visit, a State Department spokesman said no country should “give Putin a platform to advance his war of aggression against Ukraine.”

“Deepening cooperation between Russia and the DPRK is a trend that should be of great concern to anyone concerned with maintaining peace and stability on the Korean peninsula,” the spokesman said.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, told AFP that North Korea was instigating Russia’s “mass murder of Ukrainians” and called for greater international isolation of both countries.

Trade and weapons

Putin received a rapturous welcome in the North Korean capital, embraced by Kim as he stepped off his plane and greeted by cheering crowds, synchronized dancers and flag-waving children.

His reception is likely to be more subdued in Vietnam, a major global manufacturing hub that has carefully hedged its foreign policy position for years, seeking to be friends with everyone but no one.

In particular, he has sought to avoid choosing sides in the growing US-China rivalry, even as both superpowers seek to strengthen their influence in Southeast Asia.

Putin will spend Thursday meeting senior Vietnamese leaders, including newly installed President To Lam and Nguyen Phu Trong, the powerful general secretary of the ruling Communist Party.

US President Joe Biden visited Hanoi in September to promote ties as his administration seeks to establish Vietnam as an alternative supplier of key high-tech components to reduce US reliance on China.

Beijing quickly followed suit, with President Xi Jinping making his own state visit just three months later.

Putin touched down in Hanoi around 2am (1900 Greek time on Wednesday) and begins his engagements at noon with a meeting with his counterpart To Lam.

Russian officials say Putin’s visit will focus on economic, education and energy issues.

Trade between the two countries has reached just $3.5 billion in 2022 – a tiny fraction of Vietnam’s $175 billion trade with China and $123 billion with the United States.

But observers say that in the private sector, Ukraine and defense cooperation are likely to be on the table.

Russia and Vietnam have deep ties dating back to the 1950s, and for decades, Moscow was Hanoi’s top arms supplier.

Carl Thayer, an emeritus professor of politics at Australia’s University of New South Wales, said Vietnam halted “big-ticket” military purchases from 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine.

“Russia and Vietnam have a mutual interest in resuming arms sales, but Vietnam is blocked by the threat of US sanctions,” he told AFP.