Regime leader Min Aung Hlaing met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Tuesday after being welcomed by Russia as Myanmar’s head of state upon arrival in Moscow on March 3.
“This year, we are marking 25 years since signing the declaration on the foundations of friendship between our two countries. In fact, there has been steady progress in the relations between Russia and Myanmar,” Putin stated in his welcoming address at the Kremlin.
In 2024, trade between Russia and Myanmar increased by 40 percent, according to Putin. He thanked Min Aung Hlaing for gifting six elephant calves to Russia, which has been called “elephant diplomacy,” after Moscow delivered six fighter jets to Myanmar last year.
A deal was signed between the regime in Naypyidaw and Moscow on building a “small-scale” nuclear power plant in Myanmar, Reuters reported. Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear power corporation, stated that the power plant would have a capacity of 100 megawatts with the possibility of trebling, or generating three times, that capacity.
Nay Phone Latt, a spokesperson for Myanmar’s civilian-led National Unity Government (NUG), said that Min Aung Hlaing is in desperate need of legitimacy and is willing to trade the country’s resources in exchange for international recognition, the Associated Press reported.
Naypyidaw signed an agreement with Moscow on Feb. 22 to construct a port, an oil refinery and a coal-fired thermal power plant in the Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which is located in the Tanintharyi Region capital.
“It is definitely harmful to the environment. There is no precise legal protection and civilian rights groups won’t have any chances to point this out due to the current political crisis,” Min Lwin Oo, the group’s spokesperson, told DVB.
This is Min Aung Hlaing’s first trip abroad since an Argentine court issued an arrest warrant on Feb. 13 against him, and 24 others, on allegations of genocide against the Rohingya.
This is his fourth visit to Russia and the second time he has met with President Putin since the 2021 military coup.
Min Aung Hlaing’s regime has provided support to Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion and ongoing war in Ukraine.
“Number one is that Russia has worked to consolidate its sovereignty. I think this is the right thing to do. Number two is to show the world that Russia is a world power,” Zaw Min Tun, the regime spokesperson, told the Voice of America.
Russia was among the first nations to declare its support for Min Aung Hlaing’s 2021 military coup, even as his newly-formed regime faced global condemnation for using lethal force against anti-coup protesters.
