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 Russia |  Vietnam |
|---|---|
| Diplomatic mission | |
| Russian embassy,Hanoi | Vietnamese embassy,Moscow |
Russia–Vietnam relations (Russian:Российско-вьетнамские отношения,romanized: Rossiysko-v'yetnamskiye otnosheniya,Vietnamese:Quan hệ Nga – Việt) date back formally to 30 January 1950, when theUnion of Soviet Socialist Republics established an embassy toNorth Vietnam.[1] The Soviet Union was one of the first countries in the world to recognize and formally establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam, laying the foundations for strong and cooperative friendship between the two countries.
The first Vietnamese appeared in the USSR in the early 1920s. These were students fromComintern universities, mainly from theCommunist University of the Toilers of the East. About 70 Vietnamese passed through this system of communist education in Soviet Russia.Ho Chi Minh studied inMoscow in the 1920s, along with other members of theIndochinese Communist Party.
The Soviet Union was the first country, along with itssatellite states in Eastern Europe and the newly establishedPeople's Republic of China, to diplomatically recognize theDemocratic Republic of Vietnam during theFirst Indochina War in January 1950.[2] TheSoviet Union pressured theViet Minh delegation to acceptpartition as a compromise solution to the conflict at the1954 Geneva Conference. Later, in 1964, Soviet PremierAlexei Kosygin visitedHanoi to try to dissuadeLê Duẩn against escalating theVietnam War againstSouth Vietnam and theUnited States.[3] Nevertheless, the USSR was traditionally one of Vietnam's strongest allies and offered crucial military aid toNorth Vietnam during the war. Aid included air-defense equipment such asradar andsurface-to-air missiles. It also included pilot training and aircraft, such as "some all-weatherMIG fighters" and severalIL-28 light bombers.[4]
During theSino-Soviet split, Vietnam initially sought to balance relations with China on one hand and the USSR on the other.[5]: 93 Vietnamese leadership was to divided over which of the countries to support.[5]: 93 The pro-Soviet group led byLê Duẩn eventually developed momentum, especially as China sought to improve its relations with the United States, which Vietnamese leadership viewed as a betrayal of theChina-Vietnam relationship.[5]: 93 Vietnam's increasing closeness with the USSR in turn alarmed Chinese leadership, which feared encirclement by the USSR.[5]: 93–94 This contributed to China's decision to invade Vietnam, beginning the1979 Sino-Vietnamese War.[5]: 93–94
Vietnam joined theCouncil for Mutual Economic Assistance on June 28, 1978.[5]: 94 Soviet military aid to Vietnam increased from $75-$125 million in 1977 to $600-$800 million in 1978.[5]: 94 On November 3, 1978, Vietnam and the Soviet Union signed a formal military alliance.[5]: 94 The Soviet Union supportedVietnam's invasion of Cambodia, launched in December 1978.[5]: 94
The Soviet Union, although it did not take direct military action, provided intelligence and equipment support for Vietnam during the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War.[6] The Soviets deployed troops at the Sino-Soviet border as an act of showing support to Vietnam, as well as tying up Chinese troops.[7] TheSoviet Pacific Fleet also deployed 15 ships to the Vietnamese coast to relay Chinese battlefield communications to Vietnamese forces.[8]
After thedissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, friendly relations were established between Vietnam and the Russian Federation, the USSR's mainsuccessor state. Nearly 5% of the official count of theVietnamese population in Russia is composed of students with Russian government scholarships.[9] In January 2001, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Soviet-Vietnam ties,Russian presidentVladimir Putin made an official visit toHanoi, where he was received byVietnamese presidentTrần Đức Lương.[1] Bilateral trade amounted to$550 million in 2001; Russian exports to Vietnam included machinery and steel, while Vietnam sold textiles and rice. The two countries also maintained relations in the energy sector, with joint ventureVietsovpetro pumpingcrude oil from theBạch Hổ oil field.[10]
After the Vietnam War ended in 1975, theSoviet Union became a benefactor to the country during the 1980s until the USSR collapsed in 1991, leaving Vietnam with a weakened ideological, economic and military ally. In rhetoric, Vietnam officially remains one of the world's last communist countries – the communisthammer-and-sickle flag can still be seen – but it has embraced a "socialist-oriented market economy" along with Asian and Western investment over the past two decades.
Sergey Lavrov,Foreign Minister of Russia, visited Vietnam in July 2009. "Relations between the two countries have developed positively," Lavrov said. "We are convinced that the bilateral cooperation will be at a high level."[11]
Since 2022, at the Kremlin's request, Vietnam has deported severalRussian citizens living in Vietnam because they criticized theRussian invasion of Ukraine.[12]
In July 2022,Sergey Lavrov met with Vietnamese Foreign MinisterBùi Thanh Sơn in Hanoi. Lavrov called Vietnam a "key partner" of Russia inASEAN.[13]
In March 2022 and February 2023, Vietnam abstained from UN votes to condemn theRussian invasion of Ukraine.[14][15] The Vietnamese government told reporters not to say "invasion", and to minimize coverage of the war in Ukraine.[16]
Between 21 – 23 May 2023, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council,Dmitry Medvedev, visited Hanoi and met with Vietnam'sCommunist Party chiefNguyễn Phú Trọng. They discussed the strengthening of ties between Russia and Vietnam and the current international situation.[17]
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On 19 – 20 June 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Vietnam.[18] He met with Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV)'s General SecretaryNguyễn Phú Trọng and PresidentTô Lâm. Putin thanked Vietnam for its "balanced position" on theRussian invasion of Ukraine.[19] According to Vietnamese officials, Putin "is expected to announce agreements in sectors including trade, investment, technology and education," and talks will also focus on energy and arms.[20]
On his 14-15 January visit to Ha Noi, Russian Prime MinisterMikhail Mishustin paid a courtesy call to General SecretaryTô Lâm and State PresidentLương Cường, held talks with Prime MinisterPhạm Minh Chính, and met with the National Assembly ChairpersonTrần Thanh Mẫn. The prime ministers chaired a meeting on cooperation including politics, trade, technology and defence.[21]
On the 80th anniversary of the Russia’sVictory Day, Vietnam sent 68 of its officers and soldiers to Moscow to participate in the military parade, alongside with Russian armed forces and other international military contingents from 13 countries. This marked the first time that the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) have ever joined in an abroad military parade, strengthening traditional relationship and comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Russia.[22]
The military cooperation between theRussian Armed Forces and thePeople's Army of Vietnam had fallen off since the dissolution of the Soviet Union.[10] An increasingly more assertivePeople's Republic of China in its claims to theSpratly Islands dispute has prompted Vietnam to gradually deepen itsstrategic relationship withIndia, another long-standing USSR and Russian partner and ally, and Russia itself,[23] with the Russian government recently signing several military contracts with Vietnam involving the sale of sixVarshavyanka-class submarines[24] and twelve newSukhoi Su-30MK2 multirole fighter aircraft.[25] In addition, Russian Prime MinisterDmitry Medvedev approved of a draft Russian-Vietnamese military cooperation pact towards the end of August 2013 formalizing the two nations' defense cooperation.[26]
In November 2014, against the backdrop of intensified diplomatic confrontation between Russia and the West referred to by some asCold War II, an agreement was signed by Russia and Vietnam that significantly simplified the use of theCam Ranh Base by theRussian Navy. According to the US, Russia's intensifiedair force activities in the region that relied on the use of the base to refuel its nuclear-capablestrategic bombersTU-95, engaged in "provocative" flights, including aroundGuam, home to a majorUS air and naval installation. In March 2015, according to the US, these actions caused the US military command to publicly voice concern and acknowledge its diplomatic intervention regarding the issue.[27] Vladimir Putin has stated Vietnam as his "important ally" and will furthermore hope to resume military cooperation in the future.
TheSoviet andRussian Navy had until 2002[28] maintained a presence in Vietnam at the US-builtmilitary base inCam Ranh Bay which had been turned over to theRepublic of Vietnam Navy and captured byNorth Vietnamese forces in 1975. By 1987, the Soviets expanded the base to four times its original size. The Soviet Union and Vietnam officially denied the base's existence.[29] In 1988, the Soviet Foreign ministerEduard Shevardnadze discussed the option of withdrawal from Cam Ranh Bay, and the reduction in forces was effected by 1990.[30][31] Although Russian military presence no longer exist at Cam Ranh Bay, Russia is currently still using the existing base as a supply station allowed by theVietnam People's Navy.
A group ofSoviet Armed Forces military specialists in Vietnam came at the invitation of Ho Chi Minh personally to render military and engineering assistance to theVietnamese People's Army.[32] From July 1965 to December 1974, more than 6000 generals and officers and more than 4,500 soldiers were sent to Vietnam as specialists. Small contingents of auxiliary forces from other states likeBulgaria andCuba accompanied the Soviets.[33][34] From 1975-2002, forty-four Soviet servicemen were killed in Vietnam, mainly in aviation accidents.[35]
In 2017, 83% of Vietnamese had a favorable view of Russia and 89% of Vietnamese had a favorable view of Russian PresidentVladimir Putin.[36][37][38]
Vietnam in 2008 approved the use ofatomic power for civilian purposes, and Russia has already said it would like to take part in the planned programme. Khiem said the two sides also reaffirmed their traditional relations in other fields, including defence. That report came after the Russian newspaperKommersant said Vietnam was also about to sign a deal for six Russiansubmarines.[39] along with theGepard class frigate and a joint production in anti ship missiles as military ties are growing again.
Vietnam's President Triet, on a visit to Moscow in October 2008, signed a pact for Vietnamese and Russian firms to develop energy fields off the Vietnam coast. In the telecommunications sector, Russia'sVimpelCom on mid-July 2009 announced the commercial launch in Vietnam of itsBeeline mobile service throughGTEL-Mobile, a joint venture with a Vietnamese state-owned company. Lavrov was to travel Sunday July 26 to southernHo Chi Minh City to meet local government officials there.[40]
In the late 2000s, Russian influence in Vietnam has begun to grow again but remains far below that of Soviet times. On Saturday July 25, Vietnam and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding between their respective atomic energy agencies but no details were released. "Cooperation on atomic energy will be a priority", Lavrov said.[41]
On 14 January 2025, Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom and Vietnam’s state-owned power utility EVN signed a nuclear cooperation agreement, during Russian prime ministerMikhail Mishustin’s visit to Hanoi.[42][43]
Preliminary Vietnamese government data show that exports to Russia totalled almost 139 million dollars in the first five months of 2009 while imports were valued at about $525 million. Vietnam's former wartime enemy, the United States, which normaliseddiplomatic ties in 1995, received Vietnamese exports worth more than $4 billion in the first five months, the data showed. Imports exceeded $932 million.[44] By 2012 trade between the two nations has reached $3.5 billion
In March 2013,Eurasian Economic Community minister of tradeAndrey Slepnev visited Hanoi to open talks on the possibility of Vietnam joining theEurasian Customs Union.[45][46]
In September 2021, it was decided to create favourable conditions for the effective operation ofGazprom,Zarubezhneft andNovatek in Vietnam andPetroVietnam in Russia.[47] Trade remains an important tool in enhancing bilateral ties.[48]
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