Russian minister renews ties with Vietnam HANOI - As part of Moscow's efforts to boost influence in Asia, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov arrived here yesterday on a visit to reinforce ties dating back to the Cold War era. Mr Ivanov, who has also visited North Korea, met Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien after arriving from Japan on a 24-hour visit. He will meet President Tran Duc Luong and Communist Party chief Le Kha Phieu today. "We will develop our contacts in the political, trade, economic and military and technical fields and cooperate in the international arena," he said in Hanoi. His visit is the second by a Russian Foreign Minister since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The last Russian Foreign Minister to visit was Mr Andrei Kosyrev in July 1995. Bilateral ties were extremely close until 1991, thanks to shared communist ideology and the Soviet support leading to the communist victory in the Vietnam War in 1975. However, the relationship cooled after 1991 as Moscow turned to the West and it was not until the mid-90s that Russia went back to former allies and tried to build on historical ties. Diplomats see Mr Ivanov's tour as an effort by Moscow to boost influence in Asia given concerns about US strategic dominance, particularly a possible Japan-US missile defence agreement. Russia's ITAR-Tass news agency said the foreign minister carried a message from Acting President Vladimir Putin to the Vietnamese President saying Moscow considered Hanoi an important regional partner. Mr Ivanov's visit followed his signing of a new friendship treaty with North Korea, another Cold War ally. In Japan, however, he was vague about prospects for a peace treaty to end a technical state of war dating to the end of World War II. Russian diplomats said the emphasis in Vietnam was to build on existing ties. High on the agenda is expected to be Moscow's bid to encourage repayment of a long-standing debt dating to the days when Vietnam and the Soviet Union were close communist bloc allies. In the past, Moscow has put this around US$17 billion (S$28.7 billion), but Hanoi argued it should be less given rouble devaluation. Other talking points include regional security, joint oil and gas production in Vietnam, Russian military supplies and Russia's lease on Cam Ranh Bay naval and air base. Diplomats say Vietnam sees continued cordial ties with Russia as insurance should currently good relations with China, Hanoi's traditional security concern, turn sour. Reuters - February 14, 2000.