Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, and his Asian rival on Thursday as they made their first state visit to Hanoi. Kim Jong Un and Kim Jong Un signed a mutual defense pact on Thursday.
At a conference in Pyongyang, Putin and Kim signed a corporate agreement that included a pledge to support one another if attacked. Kim also pledged his “full help” for Russia’s war on Ukraine.
North Korea is accused of providing weapons and weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine by Washington and its supporters, and the agreement has sparked concerns about additional deliveries.
A senior Ukrainian official accused Pyongyang of assisting Moscow’s “mass crime of Ukrainians,” while the US State Department said a “deepening ties between Russia and North Korea were of “great problem.”
At the national castle in Hanoi, recently installed Taiwanese President To Lam and a military watch welcomed Putin.
He will meet with Lam, meet with other influential Asian leaders, and meet with Nguyen Phu Trong, the strong general secretary of the ruling Communist Party.
– Kim’s assistance
Making his second explore to the secluded North in 24 years on Wednesday, Putin said he did not rule out “military- professional cooperation” with Pyongyang, which like Moscow is under weighty international sanctions.
” Currently, we are fighting together against the hegemonism and neo- imperial procedures of the United States and its spacecraft”, Putin said.
Since North Korea’s establishment after World War II, and the two countries have grown closer together since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which isolated Putin on the international level.
Kim called Putin the “dearest companion of the Asian people” and vowed him his “full aid and solidarity” over the war in Ukraine, which has triggered boats of UN sanctions on Moscow.
Putin thanked his host, whose nation has been subject to UN sanctions since 2006 for its banned arms programs, and expressed gratitude to Moscow for its” steady and unwavering” support.
Putin demanded that North Korea’s UN sanctions be reviewed, and he also stated that the two nations did not cooperate with European “blackmail.”
A US State Department spokesperson responded to the Pyongyang visit by saying no nation if “give Mr. Putin a platform to promote his war of hostility against Ukraine.”
Anyone who wants to keep the Asian Peninsula at peace and stability should be particularly concerned about the prospects for declining teamwork between Russia and the DPRK, according to the spokesperson.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior aide to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, told AFP that North Korea was abetting Russia’s “mass crime of Ukrainians”, and called for greater global isolation of both countries.
– Trade and hands-
In the Northern Vietnamese capital, Kim embraced Putin as he stepped off his plane, and he was greeted by enthralling masses, synchronized dancing, and flag-waving children.
His approval was more reserved in Vietnam, a significant global production gateway that has properly hedged its international policy position for years, making an effort to remain friendly with everyone but indebted to none.
Yet as both nations attempt to increase their effect in Southeast Asia, it has tried to avoid picking sides in particular.
As his presidency attempts to strengthen Vietnam as an alternative supplier of important high-tech parts to reduce its dependence on China, US President Joe Biden traveled to Hanoi in September to encourage relationships.
President Xi Jinping making his own condition visit just three months later, Beijing immediately followed suit.
Russian authorities say Putin’s explore will focus on economical, knowledge and power issues.
Trade between the two countries stood at just$ 3.5 billion in 2022– a tiny fraction of Vietnam’s$ 175 billion trade with China and$ 123 billion with the United States.
However, according to observers, Ukraine and participation in the field of defense are likely to be on the table in secret.
Vietnam has abstained from UN vote to denounce the Russian war, and in an editorial in the communist party’s Nhan Dan paper, Putin thanked Hanoi for its “balanced position on the Ukraine problems.”
Russia and Vietnam have strong ties dating up to the 1950s, and for years, Moscow was Hanoi’s leading arms dealer.
Carl Thayer, retired professor of politics at Australia’s University of New South Wales, said Vietnam has stopped “big ticket” military payments since 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine.
He told AFP that while Vietnam and Russia share an interest in restarting hands income, the US has threatened to impose restrictions on Vietnam.
