The pact was signed by Russian Prime Minister Mishustin, who was visiting the Vietnamese capital. Cooperation agreements also in digital economy and wireless communications. The objective is to strengthen bilateral trade, which in 2023 was only 3.6 billion dollars between both countries. Moscow is looking for new markets to circumvent Western sanctions.
Hanoi () – Having played the atomic energy card in an attempt to revive alliances in the Middle East, especially in Turkey, Russia is now seeking new alliances in Asia. This is the background to the signing yesterday, January 14, of a nuclear agreement between Moscow and Hanoi, in addition to other cooperation contracts between both countries. The pact was signed by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, who is visiting the Vietnamese capital, a country that wants to relaunch ambitious nuclear energy programs, suspended for years, in an attempt to satisfy domestic needs, especially in the industrial sector.
Within a framework of complicated regional and global alliances, Hanoi has so far known how to forge and maintain close relations with Moscow, Washington and Beijing. In addition, Russia has long been the main supplier of military equipment, just as Russian oil and gas giants have operated in large areas of the South China Sea, including those claimed by China. Yesterday’s agreement, the content of which remains secret, was signed by the heads of Rosatom (the Russian state atomic energy company) and the Vietnamese state electricity company Evn, who agreed to strengthen cooperation in the energy sector.
Vietnam wants to revive its civil nuclear energy plans, after shelving the construction of two nuclear power plants in 2016 due to rising costs and safety concerns. The goal is to contribute to the country’s energy efficiency and meet the goal of reducing additional greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Russian Prime Minister Mishustin also held bilateral talks with his counterpart Pham Minh Chinh and met with Party chief Vietnamese communist, To Lam, and with the president of the Vietnamese National Assembly, Tran Thanh Man, while today he will meet with President Luong Cuong.
“Vietnam is an important partner of Russia in Southeast Asia,” Mishustin said on his first trip to the Southeast Asian country, adding that “today we intend to discuss a comprehensive cooperation plan between Russia and Vietnam, which will last until 2030. ”. A cooperation that will undoubtedly not be liked by the United States, which has imposed dozens of sanctions on Rosatom subsidiaries and senior officials, labeled by the Russian energy giant as “unfounded and illegal” and a “form of unfair competition” by the United States. Joined. Meanwhile, Moscow has also agreed to transfer a maritime research vessel to Vietnam, according to an agreement signed by Hanoi’s Defense Ministry and the Russian Science Ministry. Added to this are cooperation agreements in the digital economy and wireless communications.
Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev also arrived in Hanoi in recent days to reiterate the company’s commitment to building nuclear power plants and sharing Moscow’s expertise in the matter. The Asian market represents an important outlet to develop new relationships and compensate for the growing international isolation linked to the war in Ukraine. In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin also visited Vietnam to agree on a roadmap for work in the field of atomic science and technology. Hanoi and Moscow have maintained diplomatic relations since 1950 and have been close allies since the Cold War. Bilateral trade was only $3.6 billion in 2023, compared to $171 billion with China and $111 billion with the United States. And although Russia has accounted for 80% of Vietnam’s arms exports since the early 2000s, this percentage has decreased over the years due to Hanoi’s attempts to diversify supplies.
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