Ukraine–Vietnam relations are the bilateral relations between

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. Vietnam recognized Ukraine's independence from the Soviet Union on 27 December 1991. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on 23 January 1992. The embassy of Vietnam in Ukraine started its operations in 1993, and the embassy of Ukraine in Vietnam was opened in 1997.

Political and economic relations

Vietnam has maintained good relations with Ukraine since the latter's declaration of independence from the Soviet Union. This is largely due to the existence of Vietnamese people in Ukraine and the fact that Ukraine is a primary supplier of military equipment to Vietnam. Ukraine has played a significant role in helping Vietnam upgrade and modernize its military. Vietnam has maintained a neutral stance on the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

since 2014, and this stance has remained following the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, although the majority of Vietnamese people in Vietnam strongly support Russia and Putin, and in spite of dissidents' and democracy activists' support for Ukraine, as well as their pressure on the Vietnamese government to support Ukrainian territorial integrity. The two countries have sought to expand their trade and economic ties as of 2018. For Vietnam, Ukraine is an important trade partner in Europe, due to long, historical ties between the two nations, dating back to the Soviet era. On the sidelines of the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

Davos Davos (, ; or ; ; Old ) is an Alpine resort town and municipality in the Prättigau/Davos Region in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of (). Davos is located on the river Landwasser, in the Rhaetian ...

, Switzerland; meeting between Vietnamese Prime Minister

Phạm Minh Chính Phạm Minh Chính (; born 10 December 1958) is a Vietnamese politician and former public security lieutenant general. He has served as the eighth prime minister of Vietnam since 2021, and currently ranks third in the Communist Party of Vietnam, ...

and

Ukrainian President The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...

Volodymyr Zelensky Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

; the two leaders stressed that the two nations appreciate their traditional friendship and partnership. The Ukrainian Head of State thanked Vietnam for supporting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, as well as for humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. The interlocutors emphasized the importance of intensifying bilateral relations, given the longstanding ties between Ukraine and Vietnam. The President called on Vietnam to support the implementation of the points of the Ukrainian Peace Formula. Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Pham Minh Chinh discussed the possibility of intensifying bilateral contacts between Ukraine and Vietnam at various levels.

High level visits

In September 2017, the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs,

Pavlo Klimkin Pavlo Anatoliiovych Klimkin (; born 25 December 1967) is a Ukrainian diplomat who from 19 June 2014 until 29 August 2019 served as Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine), Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. A Moscow-educated physicist, he has ...

, visited Vietnam and met with Vietnamese Prime Minister

Nguyễn Xuân Phúc Nguyễn Xuân Phúc (; born 20 July 1954) is a Vietnamese former politician who served as the 11th president of Vietnam from 2021 until his resignation in 2023 amidst a series of corruption scandals. He also was the seventh prime minister from ...

Diaspora

Vietnamese community in Ukraine

The

2001 Ukrainian census The 2001 Ukrainian census is to date the only census of the population of independent Ukraine. It was conducted by the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine on 5 December 2001, twelve years after the last Soviet Union census in 1989. As of 2022, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are approximately 7,000 Vietnamese in Ukraine. According to Ukraine-Vietnam Association, prior to the February

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

the Vietnamese community numbered about 100,000 people. One of the largest Vietnamese communities in Ukraine is in

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

were Vietnamese traders dominate the , one of the largest markets in Europe. At the market most of these (Vietnamese) traders use a Ukrainianised version of their names. Ukrainians regard the Vietnamese community positively, based on historical commonality and the legacy of Soviet influence between two. The Vietnamese community also serves as a bridge connecting Vietnamese populations in other Slavic nations such as

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, and Czechia, where large Vietnamese diasporas exist. Vietnamese began coming to the Soviet Union in the 1950s to study, usually for technical professions. In 1985, the Soviet Union signed an agreement with Vietnam to allow gifted Vietnamese students to study or work in the country. This led to the formation of Vietnamese communities in the former Soviet Union, the largest of which are in

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

, and

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

. Notably, billionaire

Phạm Nhật Vượng Phạm Nhật Vượng (, born 5 August 1968) is a Vietnamese property developer and Vietnam's first USD billionaire. He is the founder and chairman of Vingroup, the largest conglomerate in Vietnam. As of November 2024, Vượng has a net wor ...

lived in Kharkiv during the 1990s. There he started the brand of instant noodles, which became a hit with Ukrainians during the early post-communist years.

Ukrainian community in Vietnam

As of 2016, approximately 2,000 Ukrainians in total are estimated to live in Vietnam, including 120 people in the consular register of the Embassy of Ukraine in Vietnam. In Vietnam there are neither organizations of Ukrainian community, nor religious communities of immigrants from Ukraine, partly due to its large distance and lack of interests. The vast majority of Ukrainians in Vietnam are labor migrants. They mainly consider their stay in Vietnam as temporary and plan to return home after labor contracts with employers conclude. Ukrainian citizens work in the fields of tourism, trade, maritime transport, coal and petroleum, and a small number of them are engaged in business. A small number of Ukrainians belong to mixed Ukrainian-Vietnamese families. Ukrainian citizens are most numerous in the cities of

Nha Trang Nha Trang ( or ; ) is a coastal city and capital of Khánh Hòa Province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the north by Ninh Hoà town, on the south by Cam Ranh city and on the west by Diên Khánh District. The city had ...

(about 100 people),

Vũng Tàu Vũng Tàu (''Hanoi accent:'' , ''Saigon accent:'' ) is an important port city in southern Vietnam. It serves as the maritime port of Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city in Vietnam. Vũng Tàu covers of area and consists of 16 urban wards and on ...

(about 100),

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

(about 50), and

Ho Chi Minh (born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), colloquially known as Uncle Ho () among other aliases and sobriquets, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and politician who served as the founder and first President of Vietnam, president of the ...

(50).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ukraine-Vietnam relations

Bilateral relations of Vietnam