In statements released on Monday, Alexei Likhachev, the president of Russia’s state nuclear company Rosatom, told the RIA agency that during President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Hanoi, his country offered to assist Vietnam in developing nuclear power reactors.
Likhachev, who accompanied Putin on his recent trip to Vietnam, claimed to have presented the proposal to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh of Vietnam.
Likhachev was quoted by RIA as stating, “In my conversation with the prime minister of Vietnam, we offered all possible options for cooperation.”
In addition to high-power nuclear power plants, Rosatom provides its international partners with low-power nuclear power facilities, both stationary and floating.
Vietnam does not currently have any nuclear power plants and abandoned plans to construct its first two in 2016 as a result of financial difficulties and the Fukushima accident in Japan.
According to Likhachev, Rosatom had offered Hanoi a scheme based on high-power units with cutting-edge Russian reactors before Vietnam withdrew its plans to build the plants.
Moscow’s move to Asia following Western sanctions over the Ukraine war was highlighted by agreements made between Russia and Vietnam during the visit, which culminated in a military event where Putin was saluted with a 21-gun salute.
Putin’s arrival in Vietnam
Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Wednesday after having an uncommon encounter with Kim Jong Un in North Korea.
The two leaders’ decision to create a new strategic alliance at the meeting was prompted by Moscow’s need for weapons for its conflict in Ukraine.
Viewed as a pariah by the West, Putin wants to show that isolating the West is ineffectual while bolstering economic ties with friendly countries.
Communist-run Vietnam appears a natural choice, given its non-alignment foreign policy and its historical ties to Moscow.
Vietnam is one of the few countries that can host the presidents of China, Russia, and the United States with such grandeur.
The Russian president met with Vietnamese authorities, including the country’s new president, To Lam and general secretary of the Communist Party Nguyen Phu Trong, according to the Kremlin-cited state-run news outlet TASS.
Putin told Lam on Thursday that strengthening our all-encompassing strategic partnership with Vietnam is always one of our top priorities. TASS issued a declaration.
We are happy to have you join us in Moscow as we celebrate the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Great Patriotic War. TASS quoted Putin as saying.
