Putin arrives in Vietnam after historic visit to North Korea

The Russian president will meet with the country’s leadership to discuss cooperation in trade, economic relations, and various other fields.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam, beginning his two-day visit to the South Asian nation. The trip is part of Putin’s Asian tour, and immediately follows his historic visit to North Korea.

The Russian leader is set to meet his Vietnamese counterpart To Lam, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, General Secretary of the Communist Party Nguyen Phu Trong and other top officials.

The talks will encompass various aspects of the ties between the two nations, including their economic partnership, trade, scientific and technical cooperation, as well as other topics. The top officials are also expected to discuss Russian and Vietnamese approaches to outstanding global issues.

According to the Russian president, more than half of transactions between Russia and Vietnam are now carried out in the respective countries’ currencies, bypassing the US dollar and euro.

He made the remarks in an article for the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Vietnam ahead of his visit to the Southeast Asian country. The article was published on the Kremlin website on Wednesday.

Putin said the two countries were taking serious steps to enhance bilateral trade and promoting investment, particularly in the Russian ruble and the Vietnamese dong.

“Such transactions accounted for more than 40% of bilateral trade last year, and in the first quarter of this year their share rose to almost 60%,” Putin said, adding this was in line with the global trend towards phasing out the use of “widely discredited currencies” in international trade and investment.

Citing official statistics, Russia’s president said that bilateral trade rose 8% in 2023 and continues to grow. The energy sector remains a strategically important area of bilateral cooperation, he added.

The Vietnam trip comes immediately after Putin’s state visit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, where he was hosted by the country’s leader Kim Jong-un. The two leaders signed a comprehensive new partnership treaty between the two nations, pledging to strengthen cooperation in all areas and to defend each other from a potential foreign attack.