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Maria Siow

Vietnam’s president and Communist Party chief travels to Russia and France this week, on a trip analysts say is designed to do double duty: shore up support for Hanoi’s claims in the South China Sea and help bankroll its bid to become a high-income economy by 2045.
To Lam’s itinerary encompasses talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow before flying to Paris to meet French President Emmanuel Macron and attend an International Space Summit from Wednesday.
By engaging two opposing powers back to back, observers say Lam is putting his country’s signature “bamboo diplomacy” on display for a global audience.
Alexander Vuving, a professor at the Asia-Pacific Centre for Security Studies in Honolulu, said Lam would likely use the visits to try to convince both Moscow and Paris to take “Vietnam’s side” on the South China Sea. Both capitals formally maintain neutrality in the territorial dispute.

Late last month, Vietnam lodged strong diplomatic protests against China over new infrastructure developments and land reclamation at Antelope Reef and Yagong Island, the latter of which Hanoi calls Ba Ba Island.
China rejected the protests, saying the work fell within its sovereign rights.
Vuving said the Russian leg of Lam’s trip, from Monday to Wednesday, would mainly focus on energy and defence cooperation, with major projects including a nuclear power plant in central Vietnam and hydrocarbon exploration in the South China Sea.
“Lam will try to elevate hi-tech to a major area of cooperation between Vietnam and Russia, as well as France,” he said, adding that science, cybersecurity and digital transformation would also be among the areas emphasised.

The two leaders might also discuss ways to overcome payment difficulties stemming from Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, Vuving added.
Valeria Vershinina, deputy director of the Asean Centre at MGIMO University in Moscow, said Hanoi’s push to build its digital economy and turn Vietnam into a developed country hinged on technology transfer and skilled workforce training – “areas where Russia can offer experience”.
Vietnam’s upcoming turn as country coordinator for the Asean-Russia Dialogue Relations from 2027 to 2030 will also be discussed, according to Vershinina.
“The role gives Moscow a useful channel for deepening ties with Asean through Vietnam, a partner that understands Russia’s positions well while still keeping the association’s own interests and priorities.”
Russia saw clear practical value in Vietnam’s extensive network of partnerships across Asia and Europe, she said.
“[It] gives Moscow an indirect channel for advancing its own regional initiatives and for building closer links with Asean and other Southeast Asian groupings where Russia’s institutional presence is limited.”
Nguyen Khac Giang, a political scientist and visiting fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute’s Vietnam studies programme in Singapore, said Russia played a key role in helping Vietnam secure oil and gas supplies and advancing its nuclear ambitions.
Vietnam would continue to rely on Russia for maintenance, spare parts and technical support “for years” despite diversifying its defence partnerships away from Moscow, Giang said – further noting that the pair’s two-way trade, modest at under US$5 billion, was unlikely to grow much in the current climate.
“Visiting both countries illustrates Hanoi’s determination and ability to work with competing powers while preserving its own room for manoeuvre,” he added.
Visiting both countries illustrates Hanoi’s determination and ability to work with competing powers
Nguyen Khac Giang, political scientist
In France, analysts say the focus will be on enhanced cooperation with Airbus, French appetite for Vietnam’s railway and defence projects and the space summit itself.
The visit would build on a comprehensive strategic partnership signed in 2024, said Ha Hoang Hop, chairman of VietKnow, a Hanoi-based political think tank. Vietnam and Russia elevated their ties to that level in 2012.
But he warned that visiting Russia before France amid the Ukraine war “carries optics risk and may invite scrutiny from Western partners”, despite Hanoi’s insistence that it remained neutral.
‘Personal diplomacy’
This week’s visits to Moscow and Paris form part of a longer itinerary for Lam. He heads to the United States and Canada later this month, with a UN General Assembly speech expected, and to Brussels next month for talks with European leaders.
Since taking ⁠power in 2024, he has visited more than two dozen countries and hosted a parade of foreign leaders in Hanoi, including Myanmar’s Min Aung Hlaing last weekend.
Giang said Lam saw “personal diplomacy” as an effective way to mobilise capital, technology and partnerships for his domestic economic agenda – an “era of national revival” centred on 10 per cent annual growth, a pivot away from low-cost manufacturing to a knowledge economy and a target of reaching high-income status by 2045.

Hop attributes the travel blitz to Lam’s “authority to drive foreign policy directly” as Vietnam’s general secretary and president – a dual role he reassumed in April, having previously held both posts temporarily from August to October 2024 before military general Luong Cuong served a stint as president.
“This near-continuous travel … suggests a leader building a personalised diplomatic brand,” Hop said, helping position Vietnam as a potential “indispensable interlocutor” to major powers.
Vuving said Lam’s frequent overseas trips reflected Hanoi’s hedging and multi-alignment strategy amid global volatility, as well as his “effort to boost his domestic legitimacy by enhancing Vietnam’s international prestige and standing”.


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Vietnam

Vietnam’s To Lam visits Russia and France amid South China Sea tensions

To Lam, Vietnam’s president and general secretary of its Communist Party, waves to members of a welcoming delegation in Moscow on Monday. Photo: Reuters

A satellite view of Yagong Reef in the Paracel Islands of the South China Sea on August 17. Photo: Vantor / Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) shares a toast with Vietnam’s To Lam in Hanoi in 2024. Photo: AFP / Getty Images / TNS

Vietnam’s To Lam gestures as he walks with Myanmar’s Min Aung Hlaing (right) at the National Assembly building in Hanoi on Saturday. Photo: AFP

Members of the welcoming delegation for To Lam hold flags in front of the headquarters of Russia’s lower house of parliament on Monday. Photo: Reuters

A member of a welcoming delegation for To Lam waves flags in front of the headquarters of Russia’s lower house of parliament on Monday. Photo: Reuters

South China Sea island build-up heightens Vietnam’s security concerns

A satellite image taken by Vantor on August 17 shows China’s construction work at Yagong Island. Photo: Vantor / AFP

A combination of handout satellite images released by Vantor on August 25 shows China’s construction work at Antelope Reef on December 13, 2025 (top) and August 11. Photo: Vantor / AFP

Fishermen collect fish caught in a net on Ly Son, Vietnam’s closest island to the disputed Paracel archipelago in the South China Sea. Photo: AFP

Beyond bamboo: Vietnam’s To Lam mounts a diplomacy offensive

Vietnam’s To Lam waves after shaking hands with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi before their meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on May 6. Photo: EPA

Vietnam’s top leader To Lam (left) receives a bouquet from Chairman of National Assembly Tran Thanh Man after swearing in as the country’s president in Hanoi last month. Photo: via AP

Workers at a garment factory in Vietnam’s Thai Nguyen Province. President To Lam wants Vietnam to be formally recognised as a high-income nation by 2045. Photo: AFP

Vietnam’s President To Lam (left) and India’s Prime minister Narendra Modi attend a joint press statement after their meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India on May 6. Photo: EPA

An electric car in Hanoi. Vietnam’s economy is forecast to grow at more than 7 per cent this year. Photo: AFP

Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) holds a welcome ceremony for Vietnamese President To Lam outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing last month. Photo: AP

To Lam’s blueprint for a rising Vietnam: build fast, grow rich

Illustration: Huy Truong

An artist’s impression of the golden, drum-shaped Trong Dong Stadium in Hanoi. Photo: Handout 

A worker installs an advert for 14th congress of Vietnam’s Communist Party in Hanoi on January 9. Photo: AFP

Labourers work at a construction site in Hanoi, Vietnam, in January. Photo: EPA

To Lam (second from right) looks on as a member of Vietnam’s armed forces carries a portrait of Nguyen Phu Trong during the former party chief’s funeral in Hanoi, Vietnam, in July 2024. Photo: AP 

Eric Trump, the US president’s son, speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony for Trump International Hung Yen, a tourism and golf complex in To Lam’s home province, in May 2025. Photo: VNA/AP

Customers drink at a East West Brewing Company bar in Vietnam. Photo: Handout 

Tourists take photos as a train passes along the track on the popular Train Street in Hanoi on February 13. Photo: AFP

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Visiting Moscow and Paris in succession allows To Lam to rally support for Hanoi’s maritime stance without taking sides, analysts say


Visiting Moscow and Paris in succession allows To Lam to rally support for Hanoi’s maritime stance without taking sides, analysts say.


Vietnam’s To Lam visits Russia and France amid South China Sea tensions

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Visiting Moscow and Paris in succession allows To Lam to rally support for Hanoi’s maritime stance without taking sides, analysts say

Visiting Moscow and Paris in succession allows To Lam to rally support for Hanoi’s maritime stance without taking sides, analysts say