Trump Wrath Looms Over Secret Vietnam-Russia Arms-Oil Deal

2025-09-22 05:01:49

(MENAFN- Asia Times) Vietnam and Russia have secretly used a back-door payment mechanism for arms deals that funnels profits from a joint oil and gas venture in Siberia to avoid the global banking system and thus elude possible US and Western sanctions, an exclusive AP report citing Vietnamese internal documents said.

With the scheme now publicly exposed, Hanoi now faces significant risks if Washington decides to act, including through the possible imposition of punitive tariffs on Vietnamese goods. Vietnam purchased fighter jets, tanks and warships from Russia on credit, then repaid those debts with profits from the Rusvietpetro joint venture in Siberia, the AP report said.

Funds circulated strictly between Vietnam and Russia, thus avoiding the SWIFT transaction system. PetroVietnam (PVN) described this as a“confidential and appropriate” method in the context of Russia's exclusion from global financial networks in punitive response to its invasion of Ukraine.

The US has sanctioned various countries that continue to buy Russian oil and weapons, as seen most severely in the 50% tariffs recently imposed on India. Under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), Washington holds sweeping authority to penalize any state engaging with Russia's defense industry.

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