Myanmar’s leader to meet Putin on first Moscow trip as president
Min Aung Hlaing has also travelled to China, India, Laos and Thailand to seek greater acceptance of his government
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MYANMAR President Min Aung Hlaing is set to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Tuesday (Aug 18), the former junta chief’s first trip to one of the isolated country’s closest allies since taking office in April after a widely criticised election.
Putin and Min Aung Hlaing will discuss closer cooperation, as well as regional and international issues, the Kremlin said in a statement, with several agreements due to be signed. Myanmar’s President Office said the talks will cover areas including the economy, security and social affairs.
Russia is one of the few major countries to have maintained close ties with Myanmar’s military rulers since the 2021 coup, while much of the West has isolated them.
Ties between the two countries span nuclear technology and defence. Myanmar is working with Russia’s Rosatom State Corporation to build a small nuclear power plant, an initial step in using the technology in health, agriculture and industry.
Russia was also a major supplier of advanced weapons to Myanmar’s military, accounting for more than US$400 million since the coup, according to a UN report in May 2023.
The Moscow meeting adds to Min Aung Hlaing’s recent run of overseas visits as he seeks greater acceptance of his new government after the disputed election.
He has travelled to China, India, Laos and Thailand since the military-backed parliament chose him as president. His administration has also sought to improve relations with the US and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, even as it rejects calls to free ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
A high-level delegation including several ministers and the head of the Myanmar Space Agency arrived in Moscow on Monday. Min Aung Hlaing is also due to meet Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of Russia’s lower house, as well as attend the Myanmar-Russia Business Forum.
Putin’s top security aide, Sergei Shoigu, travelled to the South-east Asian nation in February, becoming the first foreign official to visit after the election that Western democracies and the United Nations described as flawed.
Putin has received Min Aung Hlaing several times since the coup, most recently at the World Atomic Week Forum in Moscow last September. REUTERS
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