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Obscure Visible BENEFITS
Besides romantic attachments and the government’s political consideration, substantial benefits for Vietnam from Putin’s explore are obscure. Bilateral trade stood at , US$ 3.6 billion  , in 2023, half of the , 2021 figure , and a mere fraction of Vietnam’s trade with China ( US$ 171 billion ), the US ( US$ 111 billion ) and EU ( US$ 72 billion ).
In 2023, Soviet visitors, again among the top 10 resources of foreign tourists to Vietnam, dropped to only , 19 per cent , of the 2019 ( post- COVID 19 pandemic ) number.
The hopes of furthering financial ties are dark, given the US , tightening sanctions , against Russia. The only area of different may be in the energy sector, where, despite China’s growing obstructiveness, Vietnam however places its hopes on Russia’s ongoing support of its petroleum projects in the South China Sea.
Also, Asian investments in Soviet oil and gas reserves through , Rusvietpetro- a cooperative venture between state- owned Zarubezhneft and Petrovietnam- are reaping profits with Soviet tax concessions.
In the hands industry, where Russia matters the most to Vietnam, Russia ‘s , stability as a military partner , is exceedingly in question as its army industry looks towards , Chinese, North Vietnamese and Iranian , help to maintain its war machine in Ukraine.
Even before the conflict in Ukraine, Vietnam had begun to diversify its wings source, and this trend is likely to expand.  , Russian hands payments to Vietnam , have gradually decreased since peaking at around US$ 1 billion in 2014, plunging deeper after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to just US$ 72 million in 2022.