Vietnam chases secret Russian arms deal, even as President Biden flies in

Vietnam Air, Boeing near $10 bn deal

When President Biden was greeted by Vietnamese officials in Hanoi on Sunday, he was celebrating the prospect of adding another friend in Asia to a coalition that his administration hopes will side with American interests rather than China’s and Russia’s.

During Biden’s visit, the two nations underscored their commitment to “increase peace, prosperity, and stability in the region,” a White House press statement said. Nguyen Phu Trong, the top Vietnamese leader, conferred upon the US an upgrade of strategic ties. The Biden administration has reciprocated early, glossing over the Communist Party of Vietnam’s intensifying human rights crackdown.

But even as the US and Vietnam have nurtured their relationship over recent months, Hanoi is making clandestine plans to buy an arsenal of weapons from Russia, an internal Vietnam government document shows.

The Ministry of Finance document, which is dated March 2023 and whose contents have been verified by former and current Vietnamese officials, lays out how Vietnam proposes to modernise its military by secretly paying for defense purchases through transfers at a joint Vietnamese and Russian oil venture in Siberia. Signed by a Vietnamese deputy finance minister, the document notes that Vietnam is negotiating a new arms deal with Russia that would “strengthen strategic trust”.

For Vietnam, the idea makes a certain sense. Once one of the world’s top 10 arms importers, Vietnam has long depended on Russian weaponry. The US’ vow to punish nations that buy Russian weapons has roiled Vietnam’s plans to revamp its military.

Yet by developing its secret plan to pay for Russian defense equipment, Vietnam is stepping into the center of a larger security contest that is steeped both in Cold War politics and the hot war of the moment, in Ukraine.

Semiconductor deal President Joe Biden on Sunday secured deals with Vietnam on semiconductors and minerals as the strategic Southeast Asian nation lifted Washington to Hanoi’s highest diplomatic status alongside China and Russia.

Boeing deal Vietnam Airlines will sign an initial agreement to buy about 50 Boeing 737 Max jets in a deal valued at $10 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday. 

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