Russian President Vladimir Putin has met his Vietnamese counterpart To Lam, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and other top officials in Hanoi, with the talks expected to encompass economic partnership, trade, and scientific and technical cooperation.
The Vietnamese delegation greeted Putin on the red carpet with a guard of honor as he touched down at Hanoi’s Noi Bai international airport late at night, and an official welcoming took place on Thursday morning.
The Vietnam trip came immediately after Putin’s state visit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, where he and Kim Jong-un signed a comprehensive new partnership treaty.
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20 June 2024
If negotiations on Ukraine are linked to the withdrawal of Russian troops, then this will never happen, because the Kiev regime does not want to leave power, Vladimir Putin stated.
“This means that Kiev is interested in our troops remaining there,” the president said.
He added that Ukrainian attempts to squeeze the Russian Armed Forces out from near Kharkov “will cost them dearly.”
Vladimir Putin reiterated that in response to arms supplies to Ukraine, Russia has not ruled out supplying arms to other countries: “Let the West think about where it will end up later.”
Vladimir Putin raised a toast for stronger friendship between Russia and Vietnam, as well as peace and stability in Asia-Pacific region.
Vietnam President To Lam praised ‘stability and growth’ of ‘friend’ Russia.
“Russia reinforces its position as a great power”, he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Vietnam to think about cooperating with Russia in space exploration as he met with Vietnamese graduates of Russian and Soviet universities at the Hanoi Opera House.
“We must ensure the security of our countries. And this means we must think... about modern weapons, including those based on new physical principles. And this means that we must develop engineering, train specialists. You and I must think about the research in space… and not just near space, but deep space. We have many areas for joint work,” Putin said.
A memorandum on Russia’s project to build a Center for Nuclear Science and Technology in Vietnam, which was signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Hanoi, covers the next three years, Aleksey Likhachev, the head of Russia’s atomic energy agency Rosatom, has said.
“The document contains a clear schedule of activities for the development of the project for the period until 2027,” said Likhachev stated.
During his meeting with Vietnamese graduates of Russian and Soviet universities at the Hanoi Opera House, President Vladimir Putin addressed the issue of information security, saying that attempts by governments to reach out to younger generations should not be “boring” or “formal.”
“As soon as young people feel formalism, those efforts become meaningless, especially in the modern world, connected via the Internet and with free access to any information,” he explained.
According to Putin, there is no way to restrict the public's access to the massive flow of information available nowadays. “There is only one way to overcome the negative trends associated with this, namely, to be more convincing in the information field,” he said.
After visiting the Memorial to Fallen Heroes in Hanoi, Vladimir Putin travelled with his motorcade to the President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, where the Russian president took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the final resting place of the Vietnamese revolutionary leader.
The key points from a joint statement by Russia and Vietnam, issued during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Hanoi:
▪️ Vietnam welcomes the re-election of Vladimir Putin in 2024 and recognises the support of the Russian population for his foreign policy;
▪️ Russia and Vietnam agree to strengthen bilateral interaction, and create new mechanisms for cooperation;
▪️ Moscow and Hanoi oppose the deployment of weapons in space;
▪️ Russia highly appreciates Vietnam’s balanced and objective stance on the Ukraine crisis;
▪️ Vietnam strongly condemns the terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall outside Moscow in March and expresses support for Russia’s fight against terrorism;
▪️ Russia and Vietnam call for the creation of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital;
▪️ Moscow and Hanoi support strengthening the central role of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the system of interstate relations in the Asia-Pacific region;
▪️ Russia and Vietnam are intensifying the activities of a high-level working group on priority investment projects;
▪️ The countries agree to speed up the implementation of a project to build a Center for Nuclear Science and Technology in Vietnam.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has laid a wreath at the Memorial to Fallen Heroes in Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi. The memorial was opened in 1994 to mark the 40th anniversary of the Vietnamese victory over the French colonialists.
The Financial Times has reported that by hosting Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and Joe Biden in the space of less than a year, Vietnam has shown the ability of “balancing geopolitical rivalries with an élan that has eluded other countries.”
According to the FT, the visits by the leaders of Russia, China, and the US to the Southeast Asian country is a “triumph” of what it called Hanoi’s “bamboo diplomacy.” Vietnam has shown that it is “adept at attracting manufacturing investment from companies eager to diversify their supply chains is adroitly managing its foreign policy,” the paper claimed.
Following his talks with Vietnamese President To Lam, Russian leader Vladimir Putin also held a meeting with the Southeast Asian country’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.
Despite the “difficulties” of the current situation on the global stage, Moscow is aiming to strengthen its “comprehensive strategic partnership” with Vietnam, Putin told the PM. “We will make every effort to make it work,” he added.
“Vietnam is one of our oldest friends and partners. This relationship of mutual trust and understanding has a long history… It withstood the test of time. The Soviet Union… gave support to the Vietnamese people in their heroic struggle against the French, and then the American invaders, and then it helped to build the Socialist Republic of Vietnam… It is important that in Vietnam you remember this,” the Russian leader said.
Russia is ready to provide Vietnam with assistance in boosting its naval forces, the head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC), Dmitry Shugaev, has said.
“Vietnamese partners are interested in developing cooperation in the areas of aviation and shipbuilding. As a maritime power, they are naturally interested in strengthening their naval forces, and we will provide all possible assistance to them,” he said.
According to Shugaev, Russia’s military-technical ties with Vietnam already include “a wide range of activities.” He also expressed hope that President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Hanoi will contribute to a further strengthening of the relationship.
Peaceful nuclear energy is a promising area for expanding cooperation between Moscow and Hanoi, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said after talks with his Vietnamese counterpart, To Lam.
“On the agenda is the construction in Vietnam of the Center for Nuclear Science and Technology by [Russian atomic energy agency] Rosatom, as well as the training of Vietnamese nuclear specialists in Russian universities,” Putin stated.
Moscow and Hanoi have agreed the main principles of strengthening their strategic partnership, Vietnamese President To Lam has said after talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. This partnership will be based on “the principles of equality, mutual respect, and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs,” he added.
Russia and Vietnam promised each other not to “enter into alliances and treaties with third countries in order to harm each other’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the Vietnamese leader said.
Following his talks with Vietnamese counterpart To Lam in Hanoi, Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked the people of Vietnam for their “warm welcome” for the delegation from Moscow.
“When I say warm, I don’t just mean the temperature outside (36C), but the heartfelt reception that we were met with,” Putin joked.
Russia and Vietnam have signed eleven agreements aimed at strengthening their strategic partnership during Vladimir Putin’s visit to Hanoi. Among other things, the two nations have decided to increase cooperation in defense and security, and have issued a memorandum on the schedule for creating a nuclear technology center in Vietnam.
Building relations with Moscow is one of Hanoi’s foreign policy priorities, Vietnamese President To Lam has said during talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
“Vietnam pursues an independent and self-contained peaceful foreign policy, as well as a diversified and multi-vector policy, but at the same time we attach great importance to the development of traditional friendship with Russia,” he said.
The Vietnamese president stressed that his country remembers “the selfless assistance and support that the Russian people provided to Vietnam in our struggle for independence” from Japan and France.
Russia has achieved “important successes” both domestically and internationally under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, Vietnamese President To Lam has told his Russian counterpart during talks in Hanoi.
“We are glad that political and social stability in Russia is strengthening, the economy is actively developing, the living standards of the population are improving; Russia’s position and authority are steadily growing on the international arena,” the Vietnamese leader said.
An RT Arabic correspondent in Hanoi has filmed a video of Vietnamese security personnel and officials taking photos with Vladimir Putin’s Russian-made Aurus limousine outside the presidential palace, as talks between Russia’s president and his Vietnamese counterpart, To Lam, continue.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited his Vietnamese counterpart, To Lam, to attended the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow in 2025, which will mark 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Moscow and Hanoi are coordinating their actions on the international scene, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said during talks with his Vietnamese counterpart, To Lam.
"Russia attaches great importance to the development of dialogue with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Vietnam is one of the leading members,” he said.
During the talks in Hanoi, Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Vietnamese counterpart, To Lam, that “strengthening the comprehensive strategic partnership with Vietnam is one of our [Russia’s] priorities.”
Putin also noted that this year Moscow and Hanoi are celebrating 30 years since the signing of a treaty of friendship between the two countries. “All this time, we have maintained regular and meaningful political contacts, including through parliaments, ministries, agencies, parties, regional authorities and public organizations,” he said.
The Kremlin has published a video of Vietnamese President To Lam greeting his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi. Negotiations between the two leaders are to begin soon.
Authorities in Hanoi are making final preparations for the official welcoming ceremony, with spectators gathering near the presidential palace and a military orchestra seen rehearsing the Russian national anthem, according to videos shared by journalists.
The main program of President Putin’s state visit is set to begin at noon local time (5am GMT) with an official welcoming ceremony. After the event, the Russian leader is set to hold a meeting with Vietnamese President To Lam and sign a package of agreements.
At a working breakfast later in the day, Putin will discuss “various economic topics” with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. The Russian leader is also scheduled to speak with the general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, and parliament speaker Tran Thanh Man.
As part of the program, Putin will lay wreaths at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the Memorial to the Fallen Heroes, and attend another reception hosted by his Vietnamese counterpart as the final event of the visit.
The Vietnamese government has ignored US criticism for inviting President Putin, marking the latest failure by Washington to isolate Moscow over its conflict with Ukraine.
“The visit demonstrates that Vietnam actively implements its foreign policy with the spirit of independence, self-reliance, diversification, multilateralism,” according to a statement on Vietnam’s government website, as cited by Bloomberg.
The US Embassy in Hanoi has denounced Vietnam for hosting a state visit by the Russian President.
”No country should give Putin a platform to promote his war of aggression and otherwise allow him to normalize his atrocities,” an embassy spokesperson told Reuters on Monday. “If he is able to travel freely, it could normalize Russia’s blatant violations of international law.”
Ahead of his visit to the Southeast Asian country, Putin wrote an article for the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Vietnam, in which he noted that the two countries were paying serious attention to enhancing mutual trade and promoting investment, particularly in the Russian ruble and the Vietnamese dong.
“Food, mineral resources, machinery and equipment are exported to Vietnam. Many Vietnamese goods, including clothing, fruits, vegetables and other agricultural products, are in demand on the Russian market,” Putin stated, lauding the role of a free trade agreement between the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Vietnam.
President Putin’s plane touched down at Hanoi’s Noi Bai international airport around 2am local time on Wednesday. Despite the late-night arrival, the Russian leader was greeted by several top Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) officials, including the Secretary of the Central Committee and Chairman of the Commission for External Relations, Le Hoai Trung, as well as Deputy Foreign Minister Le Thi Thu Hang.