Myanmar’s junta leader holds talks with Russia’s President Putin in Vladivostok
This is the highest-level meeting in Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing’s three post-coup visits to Russia.
State Administration Council (SAC) Chairman Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing and Russian President Vladimir Putin held their first ever face-to-face talks in the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok on Wednesday, according to Myanmar’s Defense Service Information department.
This is the junta leader’s third trip to Russia in the 19 months since the Feb. 1, 2021 coup.
The two leaders discussed bilateral cooperation and international issues according to a statement by the Myanmar side carried on the Viber news app.
In an interview with Russian state-controlled news agency RIA Novosti, Min Aung Hlaing also said Myanmar has started buying Russian oil products.
"Supplies of oil products from Russia to Myanmar are already being successfully carried out. In a few days we will receive the first supply of diesel fuel from Russia," he said, hinting that Myanmar may shift from its policy of paying for imports in U.S. dollars.
“Whatever currency the Russian side accepts we will pay in that. This greatly simplifies our task, because there are many restrictions on receiving and transferring other currencies. If this issue is resolved, paying in rubles is good,” RIA quoted him as saying.
Strange bedfellows
Myanmar’s military rulers are becoming increasingly close to Moscow after the West imposed sanctions on Myanmar following the Feb. 1, 2021 coup, and on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 this year.
Putin told an audience at the Far Eastern Economic Forum on Wednesday that Asia was rising to fill a gap left by the West.
"I am speaking of the West's sanctions fever, with its brazen, aggressive attempt to impose models of behavior on other countries, to deprive them of their sovereignty and subordinate them to their will," Putin said in a speech quoted by Reuters.
"In an attempt to resist the course of history, Western countries are undermining the key pillars of the world economic system built over centuries."
Moscow has continued supplying Myanmar with weapons and helicopters as junta forces continue to face heavy resistance to military rule across the country in the run up to next year’s general elections.
Min Aung Hlaing and his team have been in Russia since Monday, to attend the 7th Far Eastern Economic Forum (2022) held at the Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) in Vladivostok. Central Bank Chairwoman Than Than Swe, ministers and deputies from the ministries of foreign affairs, economy, health and information accompanied the SAC Chairman.
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