Hanoi - President Putin, on the second leg of a tour aimed at reasserting Russian influence in Asia, declared a new strategic partnership with old Cold War ally Vietnam yesterday. In the declaration, Vietnam supported Mr Putin's stance on US missile defence while the Russian President later told a news conference Vietnam wanted to buy new Russian armaments.
The two countries also agreed their energy joint venture, Vietsovpetro, would explore a 100 sq km block off Vietnam's southern coast and Russia confirmed a $100 million loan to finance a Vietnamese hydropower project.