Russia moves with a new swagger in South-East Asia

MIN AUNG HLAING can cut a lonely figure on the international stage. Since seizing power in a coup in February, the commander-in-chief of Myanmar’s armed forces has been persona non grata in many places. But one country at least has remained steadfast: Russia. Its friendship with Myanmar grows “stronger and stronger”, boasted the general on a visit to Moscow in June. Nor is Myanmar the only South-East Asian country Russia is buddying up with. In July President Vladimir Putin gave Hun Sen, Cambodia’s prime minister, a “friendship” medal, and sent his foreign minister on official visits to Laos and Indonesia. Seven of the ten member-states of ASEAN, a club of South-East Asian countries, have bought or plan to buy the Russian government’s Sputnik V vaccine. Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia have even signed deals to manufacture it.

Russia’s Asian charm offensive is not new. Since Mr Putin first took office two decades ago, Moscow has assiduously cultivated ties there, eager to sell commodities to its booming markets and to develop the anaemic economy of its far-eastern territories. But some analysts argue that this “pivot to Asia”, as Moscow calls it, is really a pivot to China, which is thirsty for Russian hydrocarbons and with which Russia shares a rival, America. And as fears have grown that Russia’s economy is becoming too dependent on China, so the benefits of sharing the love with the rest of Asia have seemed more apparent. So over the past decade, Moscow has stressed the importance of stronger bonds with ASEAN.