Advertisement
Diplomacy
This Week in AsiaOpinion
Ian Storey
Ian Storey

Asian Angle | Myanmar’s arms trade, defence drills and energy deals with Russia show steady pace of ties

  • Recent high-level interactions signal strong commitment to deepen partnership in key areas in the face of international condemnation and Western sanctions
  • Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing meets Vladimir Putin for first time since coup, as countries sign nuclear road map for cooperation over 2022-23

Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
1
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing on the sidelines of the 2022 Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on September 7, 2022. Photo: Sputnik/AFP
Ian Storey
Since the Myanmar armed forces ousted the country’s democratically elected government in February 2021, and Russia invaded Ukraine in February this year, Naypyidaw and Moscow have drawn closer together in the face of international condemnation and Western economic sanctions.
Advertisement

In the last month alone, high-level interactions between senior officials from the two countries have demonstrated a strong commitment to deepen collaboration in three priority areas: political succour, defence ties and energy cooperation.

By far the most significant event was coup leader and State Administration Council (SAC) Chairman Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing’s visit to Vladivostok last week.

Min Aung Hlaing attended the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), an initiative launched by President Vladimir Putin in 2015 to promote foreign investment in the resource-rich but infrastructure-poor Russian Far East.
Although it was his third trip to Russia since he seized power (and his second in as many months and ninth since becoming head of the armed forces in 2013), it was the first time he was able to meet Putin in person.
To Min Aung Hlaing’s delight, the Kremlin referred to him as “Prime Minister” (albeit of the “caretaker government”) of Myanmar, a title few other countries have accorded him, including China which still refers to him as SAC chairman.
Advertisement

China was for decades Myanmar’s closest economic and security partner. But Min Aung Hlaing appears to distrust Beijing, and he has yet to visit the country or meet a single senior Chinese leader since seizing power.

Advertisement