Vietnamese lukewarm over Putin

Mr Putin has been visiting monuments and temples around the capital city

By Owen Bennett-Jones in Vietnam

Russian President Vladimir Putin is on the final day of his three-day visit to Vietnam, the first by a Russian or Soviet leader despite half a century of diplomatic ties.

The Russian leader's visit has been much lauded by the authorities in Vietnam, but in spite of this the Vietnamese public has shown little interest in the visit.

The trip is designed to boost relations between the two countries that have eroded since the Soviet Union collapsed a decade ago.

On Thursday Mr Putin and Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong agreed to promote a new strategic partnership between the two countries, which promises to increase bilateral trade.

Mr Putin was welcomed with a full marching band

It was also announced that the contentious issue of Vietnam's Soviet-era debt to Moscow has now been fully resolved.

On Friday Mr Putin visited monuments and temples in Hanoi. He laid a wreath at the Monument to Fallen Heroes and another at the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum.

'Nobody interested'

But most Vietnamese were far more enthusiastic about the arrival of President Clinton and his wife Hilary last November.

"When Clinton came everyone was talking about it," said one office worker. "Nobody seems interested in Putin."

In November crowds of people gathered outside Mr Clinton's hotel in Hanoi hoping to catch a glimpse of him.

When the US president visited Ho Chi Minh City he was mobbed by young people, but there has been no such turn out for Mr Putin.

Red carpet treatment

Vietnam's Government, though, has rolled out the red carpet for the Russian leader, who on Thursday was given a formal full state welcome ceremony at Hanoi's Presidential Palace.

The tightly controlled press has published a swathe of articles praising the links between Russian and Vietnam in everything from the fishing industry to folk music.

The main Communist Party newspaper, Nhan Dan described Mr Putin's visit as "an important historical event".

When Mr Clinton came, by contrast, senior journalists were told to ensure that their coverage of his visit was restrained.

Welcome banners

The streets of Hanoi are now bedecked with banners bearing messages such as "welcome to Vietnam Mr Putin!"

There were no such banners for Mr Clinton.

Mr Clinton was mobbed on his visit to Vietnam

A senior American official said he was not bothered by the differences in the official reception given to the American and Russian Presidents.

"That is expected, they have a lot longer relationship. It makes no difference to us," he said.

Vietnam and the Soviet Union were close cold war allies a relationship that both sides seem keen to maintain.

Speaking in Hanoi's presidential palace on Thursday, Mr Putin said, "it would be unforgivable and foolish to lose the high level of intergovernmental relations reached in the past."

Western diplomats believe the strategic partnership is a sign that Hanoi does not want to become too economically and diplomatically reliant on the US alone.