Vietnam's place in the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative: Bringing out for Russia

The article examines the political and economic meaning of the Chinese Belt and Road initiative, which is aimed at expanding China's economic and, as a result, political influence through the expansion of infrastructural and trade ties. Vietnam is a key strategic partner of China in the Southeast Asian region, a direct neighbor and one of the main beneficiaries of the Chinese initiative at this stage. However, the article emphasizes the duality of such interaction: Vietnam is in danger of becoming unconditionally dependent on China, which Vietnam seeks to avoid. Vietnam sees its partial support in diversifying the areas of cooperation. The authors of the article believe that this aspiration can be used by Russia to strengthen its own positions, both directly with Vietnam and with the entire region of Southeast Asia. The authors used qualitative and comparative analysis of sources, content analysis of data to determine trends; synthesis and historical-descriptive methods for a comprehensive presentation of the subject of research. The main conclusions of this article are the inevitability of economic cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road of Vietnam and China. Geographical proximity and diverse contacts force Vietnam and China to interaction. The comprehensive analysis shows that the Belt and Road still raises many questions and suspicions from various participants, including Russia. However, for Russia, this may be a chance to expand economic cooperation with Vietnam, even despite the sanctions pressure. The article can serve as a basis for further comprehensive research of the factors influencing Russian-Vietnamese relations in particular, and the structure of multilateral cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road, in general. The Belt and Road has laid the foundation for the expansion of China's economic and political expansion, and there is still no clear understanding of how other players on the world stage will react.

Vietnam, China, Russia, Vietnamese-Russian relations, Vietnam-China relations, Belt and Road, Asia, ASEAN, economic relations, sanctions