Japan has condemned the Russian invasion and joined forces with Western nations in imposing sanctions on Moscow. Vietnam, like most other nations in Southeast Asia, has refrained from directly criticizing Russia and has called for restraint, respect for the UN Charter and dialogue to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. Vietnam abstained from voting in the UN General Assembly in March condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Vietnam is one of Moscow’s historic allies and the Vietnam Army is mainly equipped with Russian weapons. It also has strong ties to Ukraine, where about 10,000 Vietnamese live, work and study. In recent years, Vietnam has forged closer ties with the United States to oppose China’s vast territorial claims to the South China Sea. “We can not accept the actions to change the status quo by force in any part of the world,” Kishida said after talks with his Vietnamese counterpart, Pham Minh Chinh. Kishida also criticized China’s actions in the South China Sea, where Beijing has built artificial islands and turned them into military outposts to bolster its territorial claims rejected by its smaller neighbors.
