Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Grand Kremlin Palace on Tuesday. It was Min Aung Hlaing’s fourth visit to Russia since he seized power in 2021. They oversaw the signing of 10 MoUs covering sectors including nuclear energy, education, sport, trade and investment, and many others, the Kremlin said. How was this visit different from Min Aung Hlaing’s previous trips? Did any significant deals come out of the meeting? Russia is one of the junta’s few allies: What did Min Aung Hlaing say to Putin during the meeting? Here is a breakdown of the visit and the meetings that took place, and what you should know about them.
First official visit to Moscow
Min Aung Hlaing has made previous trips to Russia since his coup in 2021, but the ongoing visit is his first official visit to Moscow at the invitation of Putin.
Russia is so far the only country that has extended a presidential invitation to the junta leader, who has been shunned on the international stage. Even China, Myanmar’s powerful neighbour and another key ally of the junta, has stopped short of a presidential invitation to Min Aung Hlaing to visit Beijing. Similarly, neighbour Thailand, which has maintained good ties with the regime, has not invited Min Aung Hlaing to visit.
The ongoing visit is Min Aung Hlaing’s fourth to Russia since the coup. He met Putin in September 2022 at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. Tuesday’s meeting was his second with the Russian leader.
Meeting of two ‘wanted men’
The meeting between Min Aung Hlaing and Putin was notable for the fact that both host and guest are the subjects of international arrest warrants.
An Argentinian court has issued an arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing for genocide against the Rohingya. Putin, meanwhile, is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his invasion of Ukraine. The ICC prosecutor has also called for an arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing.
In this sense, Min Aung Hlaing is even more “wanted” than Putin.
Both regime leaders have faced international condemnation and sanctions; Min Aung Hlaing for his coup against an elected government and his forces’ subsequent atrocities and Putin for his invasion of Ukraine. Shunned by the international community, the two pariah regimes are seeking to enhance cooperation in various sectors. Birds of a feather flock together.
Putin also invited Min Aung Hlaing to attend Russia’s Victory Day celebrations in Moscow on May 9.
Agreement to construct nuclear power plant
Before Min Aung Hlaing and Putin, junta Science and Energy Minister Myo Thein Kyaw, Myanmar Ambassador to Russia Thit Linn Ohn and Russian officials on Tuesday signed an agreement on the construction of a small-scale nuclear plant in Myanmar. Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear power corporation, said the plant would have a capacity of 110 megawatts with the possibility of trebling that capacity.
In early 2023, the two countries signed an intergovernmental agreement on the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
The head of Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, told Russian television Tuesday that Myanmar was interested in building a modular station with two reactors close to the capital Naypyitaw.
MoU on space exploration and usage
Also signed before Putin and Min Aung Hlaing was an MoU on cooperation on space exploration and usage for peaceful purposes.
Discussions between the junta and Moscow on cooperation in aerospace technology date back to 2022.
Putin told media on Tuesday that the regime has formed a satellite imagery analysis centre in Myanmar with Russian assistance.
Min Aung Hlaing also held talks with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on cooperation on space and satellite technology. According to sources among Myanmar military and junta supporters, Russia has offered to share information captured by its reconnaissance satellites with the regime for military purposes.
Junta boss reiterates support for invasion of Ukraine
The junta boss reiterated his support for Russia’s military operations against Ukraine during his meeting with Putin on Tuesday.
He said “Myanmar completely stands with Russia and its people in any action they are taking to maintain the sovereignty of Russia and global peace and stability.”
Russia and China have supplied weapons and ammunition to the regime while the rest of the world has responded to the military’s coup and subsequent atrocities with an arms embargo. The ties between Naypyitaw and Moscow have expanded beyond the arms trade since the coup, with the two countries now cooperating in various sectors from nuclear technology and trade to education and religion. At the United Nations, Russia has joined China to defend the regime.
Min Aung Hlaing, during his meeting with Putin on Tuesday, solemnly expressed gratitude for Russia’s constant support in the regional and international arenas. This explains the junta’s blind support for Russia, one of its few allies and a global power, over its invasion of Ukraine.
Putin the rodent: Intended praise lost in translation
Min Aung Hlaing has often praised Putin to the skies as the junta boss’s foreign policy is indisputably focused on currying favour with China and Russia. When he met Putin on Tuesday during his first official goodwill visit to Moscow, he told the Russian president that today’s alliance between Myanmar and Russia was prophesied by the Buddha thousands of years ago, when Putin, apparently, was a “rat king” in a previous life.
Citing a 1938 biography of King Alaungpaya, who founded the Konbaung Dynasty in the 1700s, Min Aung Hlaing said a rat king named Thoma made offerings to the Buddha, who prophesied that Thoma would become a king of Russia more than 2,000 years after Buddha’s death and that he would have unrivaled knowledge of weaponry and become a friend and ally of Myanmar kings. “This prophecy has come true,” said the junta boss.
The obscure tale is unfamiliar to most people even in Myanmar, so it’s no surprise that Putin appeared not to follow Min Aung Hlaing’s statement, despite the strenuous efforts of the interpreter. To Putin’s embarrassment, according to the prophecy, he became president after being a rat in a previous life. No description was given of the previous incarnation of the Myanmar king in this story (presumably Min Aung Hlaing).
Min Aung Hlaing previously presented Putin with six elephants. At Tuesday’s meeting, Putin thanked Min Aung Hlaing but admitted to being a little worried about how the animals would cope with Russia’s cold climate.
Myanmar people are finding it hard to hear the reports of these unusual topics of discussion – rats and elephants – at the Kremlin Palace without breaking into laughter.
Dawei SEZ not on agenda
Myanmar and Russia recently agreed to kickstart the stalled Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and port project in southern Myanmar’s Tanintharyi Region. There was speculation that Min Aung Hlaing would sign an agreement on it during his visit to Russia, but Myat Ko, the chief of Tanintharyi Region, which is home to the Dawei SEZ, was notably absent from Min Aung Hlaing’s delegation.
Russia’s minister for economic development, Maxim Reshetnikov, last month signed a memorandum on investment cooperation to kickstart the Dawei SEZ and port project in Tanintharyi. It envisages the construction of a port, coal-fired thermal power plant, and oil refinery there. At the time, Reshetnikov said the most difficult project from a financial point of view, regarding which no final decision had been made, was the construction of an oil refinery. Analysts said the Tanintharyi Region chief was left behind because of uncertainties with finalising the agreement.
An unlikely junta official in Min Aung Hlaing’s entourage is Bago Region Chief Minister Myo Swe Win. Pro-junta media claimed Myo Swe Win is in Russia to discuss an ongoing large-scale technological project that Russian and Myanmar armed forces are developing secretly somewhere in Bago Region.
What Min Aung Hlaing gained
For the isolated regime chief, who for the past four years has barely been able to travel beyond Yangon, Mandalay and Naypyitaw in his own country, the visit to the Kremlin Palace at the invitation of the Russian president is undoubtedly a diplomatic achievement.
In addition to Putin, Min Aung Hlaing met with Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu to discuss increased cooperation in the security sector, and junta representatives were invited to security forums in Russia; these will likely present the regime with opportunities to acquire military assistance from Moscow, enabling the junta boss to continue to launch airstrikes against Myanmar civilians.
The chairmen of Russia’s parliament also promised to help the regime with its planned election, and send poll observers to monitor it. They also promised to promote ties between the legislatures of the two countries after parliaments reconvene in Myanmar.
Meanwhile, critics are concerned that the regime boss might have sweetened business deals with Russia to attract investment to Myanmar as the junta seeks to strike a balance between Russia and China.
This article was originally published on The Irrawaddy.
