Russia's president Vladimir Putin has arrived in Vietnam, where he has travelled after his visit to North Korea.
Putin arrived on Thursday morning local time in Vietnam, and is set to meet, among others, the chairman of the country's powerful communist party Nguyen Phu Trong, as well as the new president To Lam.
In a comment to the Vietnamese newspaper Nhan Zan, published before the visit, Putin expressed gratitude for what he says is Vietnam's "balanced" stance on the Ukraine war, reports Russian Tass.
Vietnam has not criticised the Russian aggression.
The trip has led to a sharp rebuke from the US embassy in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi.
During Putin's visit to North Korea, the countries signed a pact with mutual defence guarantees.
