A few days ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited North Korea and Vietnam successively – against the background of the ongoing full-scale war of the Russian army against Ukraine.
Political and military experts analyzed the purpose of Putin's visit to these countries, writes the German publication Zeit Online. It is even said that North Korean soldiers may appear at the front in Ukraine, but at the moment no such decision has been made. Already last year, Putin described as “nonsense” the possibility of Kim Jong Un's soldiers fighting against the Ukrainian army.
Did Putin ask for the creation of an anti-NATO alliance? Such a request is illogical for 2 reasons. The first is that Vietnam and North Korea are very far from the European security order and their interests do not directly collide with what is happening on the Old Continent. The second reason is North Korea is subject to massive international sanctions over its nuclear and missile programs and is largely isolated. The country wants to break free “and gain access to technologies it has been unable to obtain due to global sanctions”.
North Korea supplies missiles to Russia, but experts say their cooperation ends there and does not include sending infantry. During his visit, Putin announced that the two countries had signed a historic mutual defense agreement. But Russia and North Korea are unreliable when it comes to this. It may happen that they simply will not fulfill their commitments because it would be sub-optimal for them for political reasons, experts point out.
Not long ago, Russia stabbed North Korea in the back by agreeing to the expansion of sanctions against Pyongyang in the UN Security Council.
Vietnam, for its part, wants to be a balancer between Russia, China and the US. It pursues its own interests, which have nothing to do with building an anti-NATO alliance. Vietnam is the only country that US President Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin have visited within a year. Vietnam wants to maintain its policy of independence.
Putin's main mission in North Korea and Vietnam was not to build an anti-NATO alliance, but to prove that Moscow was still able to win international allies. And to show that she will not allow herself to be isolated. After all, the West imposed harsh sanctions on Russia shortly after the start of the war in Ukraine. Now Putin is trying to secure himself geopolitically.
With the exception of North Korea, countries in Asia will not enter into an alliance that takes away any flexibility in shaping their relationship with the West. Putin also cannot count on the BRICS countries of Brazil, India and South Africa to create a possible anti-Western military alliance. For the same reasons: they do not see themselves as “anti-NATO”. Rather, as independent poles in a multipolar world.
In the short term, Putin's focus will be on achieving success on the Ukrainian front. In the medium term, Putin's focus is on the US. The Kremlin will wait to see if there is a change in Washington's policy after the US presidential election. But Putin must also be prepared for the possibility that Washington will continue to follow the current line, writes focus.de.
In the long term, the Russian president will strive to achieve his vision of a multipolar world. This means a world with several power centers that have their own spheres of influence and do not allow interference in their internal affairs.