Putin arrives in Vietnam as Russia seeks support in face of Western isolation

CNN —

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi on Wednesday, fresh from a rare meeting in North Korea with counterpart Kim Jong Un in which the two autocrats agreed a new strategic partnership driven by Moscow’s need for weapons for its war in Ukraine.

Considered a pariah by the West, Putin is looking to boost economic ties with friendly countries and show that Western isolation is not having an impact.

Communist-run Vietnam appears to be a natural choice with its foreign policy of non-alignment and close historical ties to Moscow, and few countries can successfully host the leaders of the United States, China and Russia with such fanfare as Vietnam.

Putin’s two-day visit to Vietnam has rankled the United States, with a spokesperson for the US Embassy in Hanoi reportedly criticizing the trip saying, “no country should give Putin a platform to promote his war of aggression and otherwise allow him to normalize his atrocities,” according to Reuters.

The Russian leader met with Vietnamese leadership including Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and new President To Lam, according to Russian state-run news agency TASS, citing the Kremlin.

Putin told Lam on Thursday that “strengthening a comprehensive strategic partnership with Vietnam is always one of our priorities,” TASS reported.

At the start of his talks with Lam, Putin invited him to Victory Day celebrations in Moscow next year. “We will be glad to welcome you to the celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War in Moscow,” TASS quoted Putin as saying.

Much like his visit to Pyongyang, Putin’s trip to Hanoi could signal deepening relations between the two nations as the Russian