Vietnamese leader Nguyen Phu Trong with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Communist Party Central Committee headquarters, in Hanoi, on June 20.
Russia has also largely been irrelevant to the economic fortunes of the South-east Asian manufacturing hub. The US$1.7 billion worth of exports Vietnam made to Russia in 2023 were dwarfed by its exports to the United States , China , and European Union . Analysts said the Russian commitment was significant in the light of the overlapping territorial claims between China and Vietnam in the South China Sea, which have disrupted Vietnamese oil and gas operations in recent years. China’s increasing assertion of its claims over almost the entire South China Sea – and its growing confrontation with the Philippines, another claimant – have further raised temperatures on this front.
Ms Hanh Nguyen, a PhD scholar at the Australian National University, told The Straits Times: “Growing Sino-Russian alignment might not bode well for Russia-Vietnam cooperation in the South China Sea in the long term. The balance in this alignment favours China, and Beijing might use this opportunity to pressure Russia to reduce oil and gas exploration activities with Vietnam.
Despite the furore over Russia’s bombardment of Ukraine, Vietnam has been careful to avoid criticising Moscow. Hanoi abstained from voting on United Nations General Assembly resolutions condemning Russia’s invasion and, in April 2022, voted against the motion to expel Russia from the UN Human Rights Council.
While Russia does not recognise the court, the warrant forced Mr Putin to skip an August 2023 summit in South Africa with Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. South Africa, as a signatory to the ICC, was obliged to arrest him if he turned up, even though President Cyril Ramaphosa said such an act would be tantamount to declaring war on Russia.
Energy Energy Latest News, Energy Energy Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »