Russia is a key supplier of military goods to Vietnam, providing it with fighter jets, tanks and ships. Moscow’s ongoing war against Ukraine, however, has given rise to international sanctions and the United States, European Union and others are threating more unless Russia relents. Internal Vietnamese documents obtained by The Associated Press reveal that Hanoi and Moscow have prepared for this possibility, establishing a complex system through which Vietnam can conceal its payments to Russia for defense goods by avoiding any open transfers of cash through the global banking system. The system established last year uses Vietnam’s profits from joint oil and gas ventures with Russia to pay for defense goods bought on credit from Moscow. Final details of the mechanism were laid out in a 2024 memo obtained by the AP from the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group, known as Petrovietnam or PVN, to Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade ahead of a visit to Hanoi by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Full report : Takeaways from AP’s report on a secret deal between Russia and Vietnam.