The US responded to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Vietnam on Thursday (Jun 20) by saying Washington would stay focused on deepening ties with Hanoi, with which it has sought strong relations to counter rivalry with China.
A day after signing a mutual defence agreement with North Korea, Putin received a 21-gun salute at a military ceremony in Vietnam and said in Hanoi he wanted to build a “reliable security architecture” in the region.
Hours later, Washington announced that its top diplomat for East Asia, Daniel Kritenbrink, would visit Vietnam on Friday and Saturday to stress Washington’s commitment to working with Hanoi to ensure a “free and open” Indo-Pacific region.
Putin’s two-nation trip to Asia has been seen as a show of defiance to the West, and Vietnam’s hosting him had been sharply criticised by Washington, which said the Russian leader should not be given a stage on which to defend the war in Ukraine.
The White House national security spokesperson John Kirby was asked at a regular briefing if the US believed Putin would seek support for the Ukraine war from Vietnam and said Washington expected Hanoi would continue to adhere to UN principles on respect for territorial integrity.
Kirby stressed the US upgrade of relations with Vietnam last year, and added: “We’re going to stay focused on continuing to deepen it, broaden it, improve it for own mutual benefits to each other and to the region.”
The US is now Vietnam’s top export market and the US State Department said in announcing Kritenbrink’s visit that he would “reaffirm the United States’ support for a strong, independent, resilient, and prosperous Vietnam” and “underscore the strong US commitment to implementing the US-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership”.
Russia and Vietnam signed agreements on issues including energy, underlining Moscow’s pivot to Asia after the West imposed sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine conflict.
Despite US concern over Vietnam hosting Putin, some analysts believe Hanoi may have calculated it will not suffer material consequences, given that Washington relies on good relations with Vietnam to counter its rivalry with China in the Indo-Pacific region.
However, Hanoi is awaiting an important US decision due by Jul 26, on whether to elevate Vietnam to market-economy status, and Alexander Vuving, a Vietnam and Asia expert at Hawaii’s Daniel K Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, said hosting Putin could affect this.
Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/putin-vietnam-visit-us-deepening-ties-4425591