아세안

Russian president Vladimir Putin made a state visit to the Vietnamese capital in June 2024, right after his trip to North Korea. During his Hanoi visit, Putin said that enhancing Russia’s strategic partnership with Vietnam was one of Moscow’s priorities, and the two sides signed 11 memoranda for collaboration in areas like civilian nuclear projects and education. Isolated amid Russia’s war with Ukraine and slapped with an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, Putin appears to be ramping up his country’s engagement with countries that are not Western aligned, including those in Southeast Asia, as a way to break Moscow’s isolation. Indeed, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, all of which have excellent relations with Russia, would naturally have Moscow’s attention. Such moves by Moscow to step up its engagement have geopolitical implications for Southeast Asia and ASEAN.