Vietnamese Foreign Minister calls US strategic partner shortly after putin's visit to country

Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn has called the U.S. a "strategically important partner" during a meeting with Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel J. Kritenbrink.

This is reported by Deutsche Welle.

Kritenbrink arrived in Vietnam on a working visit on June 21, a day after the visit of russian president vladimir putin. The meeting between the Assistant Secretary of State and the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam took place on the same day.

"Vietnam is ready to work with the U.S. to promote a comprehensive strategic partnership for the purpose of effective, stable and meaningful development based on respect for each other's independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and political institutions," the Vietnamese press quoted as saying.

For his part, Daniel Kritenbrink confirmed the U.S. commitment to support "a strong, independent, independent and prosperous Vietnam".

On June 20, president of the russian federation vladimir putin met in Hanoi with the President of Vietnam To Lam and the general secretary of the Communist Party of the country Nguyễn Phú Trọng. As a result of the visit, more than a dozen agreements on bilateral cooperation in the fields of education, medicine, energy, and defense were signed.

"Cooperation in the field of defense and security occupies a special place in the system of Russian-Vietnamese relations" and is not directed against third countries, the parties emphasized. The purpose of such a partnership is to contribute to "ensuring peace, stability and sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region and the world in general," says the joint statement of russia and Vietnam.

Among other things, it is assumed that russia and Vietnam will "cooperate to combat traditional and new security challenges, including terrorism." Among the "traditional and new security challenges" that russia and Vietnam intend to face jointly, the statement mentions "territorial disputes" and "provocation of coups d'état from outside".

Thus, these statements are declarative in nature and do not contain anything that can be qualified as direct armed support by Vietnam to the aggressor country. But we don't know exactly which contracts were signed by the parties, so we can't say anything for sure.

According to experts, Vietnam may be interested in purchasing russian weapons.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on June 18, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called putin's visit to the DPRK "a sign of despair."

On June 19, russian president vladimir putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed an agreement on a comprehensive strategic partnership, which provides for mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of these states.