Since no early end to the Ukraine crisis seems to be on the horizon, and the divisions between US allies and other countries are unlikely to go away so soon, Vietnam shall be faced with the difficult task of navigating its foreign policy in order not to unduly provoke either China or Russia by siding with either. It needs therefore to craft a foreign policy that is both firm and flexible at the same time. It is not a question of “with us or against us” as was the case of the US when it was waging its “war on terror”. That strategy cannot be applied in the Southeast Asian context.

Moreover, despite so much of emphasis on Asean centrality, there are a host of issues in which not every member of the bloc are on the same page. Differences do exist; yet Asean has earned the reputation of being one of the most successful regional organisations. Even in the Ukraine conflict, sharp divisions were visible at the recent peace summit in Switzerland. Hanoi need not unduly worry that its cosiness with Moscow would affect intraAsean relations. Hanoi is of course aware that the US with which it is balancing ties was not too pleased that Vietnam welcomed Putin.

The core reason for US displeasure against Russia was its military operation in Ukraine. Washington still continues to stick to its old policy of “with us or against us”, which is why the US embassy in Hanoi rebuked the leadership in Vietnam saying that by welcoming Putin, Hanoi was laying a platform for the Russian leader to legitimise the war and allowing him to normalise his atrocities. However, given the manner in which Hanoi has crafted its foreign policy, it is capable of balancing its relations with all the three major powers ~ the US, Russia and China ~ and see that this strategy........

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