06/23/2024 – Translated from Ukrainian via Google and OFP

At first glance, the Asian tour of Russian leader Vladimir Putin looks primarily like a diplomatic response to the summit in Switzerland. There is no truth, children – the Russian leader has made a serious diplomatic impression, at least from the point of view of the number of delegations that came to the meeting, as well as from the point of view of the level of their representation. And now Putin simply needs to demonstrate that he remains a respected and serious player – if not in Europe, at least in Asia, Vitaly Portnikov writes for radiosvoboda.org.

But this is not only a diplomatic response, it is also an obvious raising of the stakes, which Vladimir Putin always resorts to when he feels he is losing.

First, the Russian leader wants to pretend that he is the “conductor” of events on the Korean Peninsula. And we are not talking only about the agreements on the continuation of the supply of weapons for the war in Ukraine – for the sake of such agreements, Putin would hardly fly to Pyongyang. We are primarily talking about the strategic partnership agreement, which provides for assistance in the event of an attack. The Ukrainian media have already begun to think about soldiers from the DPRK on the Ukrainian front.

But why not think about something else, something that may worry the West much more seriously – about Russian servicemen on the front of a new war, a war between the two Koreas. After all, it is no coincidence that immediately after the agreements with Kim Jong Un, Putin began to threaten South Korea. The reason was Seoul’s intention to revise its policy of not supplying weapons to Ukraine.

Kim is counting on Putin

But it should not be assumed that such a reaction of the leadership of South Korea to his agreement with Kim came as a surprise for Putin. No, he came to Pyongyang precisely to express support to the North Korean dictator in the event of a conflict.

And now it becomes clear why Kim Jong-un recently abandoned the main ideology of his grandfather and father – the program of mandatory unification with South Korea and declared the residents of the neighboring state “another nation”. As we can see, dictators find taste in perversions: Putin declares two different peoples, Russians and Ukrainians, one nation, and his friend Kim declares one Korean people two different nations). This decision is a preparation for the future conflict in which Kim is counting on Putin.

Putin “climbed” into the zone of interests of Beijing

“From a purely military and geopolitical point of view, the meeting at the highest level and the establishment of closer ties between Russia and North Korea give every reason for concern. As well as exactly how Russia has firmly associated itself with Iran, which supplied Putin with drones in large quantities. The axis of evil that President George W. Bush once spoke of is becoming a dangerous reality. Behind the scenes, cynical China supports everything that can harm the West,” emphasizes the columnist of the Danish publication Politiken.

But here too, everything is not so simple, because in his visits, Putin literally “climbed” into the zone of geopolitical interests of Beijing. After all, China is the main economic partner of both North Korea and Vietnam. In Vietnam, China now competes with the United States, but not with Russia, whose level of economic contact with both countries is pitiful. But Putin, strangely enough, is trying to use ideology as an alternative to economics – although, according to logic, this should be done by the Chinese communists, not the head of Russia.

But the President of the People’s Republic of China and General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPC Xi Jinping is not interested in a real war on the Korean Peninsula, and Vladimir Putin is interested, because it will help weaken the West and divert attention from Ukraine. Xi Jinping is not interested in a more dogmatic Vietnam policy, and Vladimir Putin is. That is why Putin arrived in Hanoi precisely at the time when the positions of the supporters of the “hard line” – the general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Chong and the new president of the country To Lam, the former minister of public security of Vietnam – were strengthening (I think readers with Soviet experience do not need to explain that this is a position in a socialist country). And, of course, helping Hana with the weapon is another signal of support.

A signal to Washington and Beijing

So Putin’s trip is a signal to both Washington and Beijing: he should not be deterred from continuing the war in Ukraine, because he may become even more dangerous in his destructive plans. But Putin is unlikely to like the reaction to this signal.

The White House has already sent the US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink to Hanoi. The State Department said that the diplomat should “underline the firm commitment of the US to the implementation of the US-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.”

And Beijing? Chinese leaders, of course, are more cautious. However, a columnist for the South China Morning Post, a publication close to the Chinese leadership, notes: “The problem for Vietnam is that China, which has significant influence over the Kremlin through its material support of Russia’s industrial base, is likely to put pressure on Moscow to refrained from any arms sales to Vietnam that are inconvenient for the PRC.”

So, in Asia, too, Putin risks outdoing himself – as was the case with the Ukrainian “blitzkrieg”.

https://www.obozrevatel.com/ukr/politics-news/diktatori-znahodyat-smak-u-zbochennyah-navischo-putin-litav-do-kndr-i-vetnamu.htm