Vietnam, Russia sign agreement to boost cooperation on nuclear energy

Vietnam and Russia inked Tuesday an agreement to boost cooperation on nuclear energy during Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin's two-day visit to Hanoi.

The Southeast Asian country has been trying to revive its nuclear energy plans after it shelved building two nuclear power plants in 2016 due to ballooning costs and concerns around safety hoping it will help it become energy-sufficient and reach its goal of curbing additional greenhouse emissions by 2050.

The agreement was signed between Russia's state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom and Vietnam's state-owned power utility EVN.

Mishustin also held bilateral talks with his counterpart Pham Minh Chinh and met Vietnam's Communist Party chief To Lam and the chairman of Vietnam's National Assembly Tran Thanh Man.

Vietnam is an important partner of Russia in Southeast Asia," Mishustin said. Today we plan to discuss with you a comprehensive plan for cooperation between Russia and Vietnam, which runs until 2030.

He is set to meet President Luong Cuong on Wednesday.

Alexey Likhachev, Rosatom's general director, arrived in Hanoi earlier on Monday. He said that the company was ready to help Vietnam build nuclear power plants and centres, as well as share and localize Russian nuclear technology, according to Vietnamese state media.

Russia, which has been trying to bolster ties in Asia to offset its growing international isolation over its war in Ukraine, also agreed to transfer a scientific research vessel for marine research.

Mishustin is a technocrat who has maintained a low political profile and was reappointed as Russia's Prime Minister in 2024. This is his first trip to Vietnam and comes after President Vladimir Putin travelled to Hanoi in June and agreed to work on a roadmap for a nuclear science and technology centre in Vietnam.

Hanoi and Moscow have had diplomatic relations since 1950 and have been close allies since the Cold War. Evidence of that long relationship and its influence can be seen in Vietnamese cities where Soviet-style apartment blocks co-exist alongside skyscrapers.

Bilateral trade between Russia and Vietnam was only $3.6 billion in 2023, compared to $171 billion with China and $111 billion with America. And while Russia has accounted for 80 per cent of Vietnam's arms exports since the early 2000s, that has been declining over the years because of Vietnamese attempts to diversify its supplies.