View source for Lavrov Visit To Vietnam Cancelled At Last Minute

A visit by Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov to Vietnam was abruptly called off hours after President Vladimir Putin was re-elected for a fourth term -- Lavrov, a notoriously hard negotiating diplomat, has long been part of Putin's inner circle<br><br>A visit to Vietnam by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was abruptly called off Monday for "unexpected reasons", [https://www.pata.org/great-places-to-soak-up-the-sunset-in-hanoi/ best Hanoi day tour] said, hours after President Vladimir Putin was re-elected for a fourth term.<br><br>Lavrov, who has long been part of Putin's inner circle, was scheduled to begin his visit on Monday morning.<br><br>But Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the cancellation in an email sent to reporters just an hour before his planned meeting with President Tran Dai Quang.<br><br>"Due to unexpected reasons, the visit to Vietnam of Russia's Foreign Minister will not take place as scheduled," the emailed statement said.<br><br>"We will inform specific time of the visit to press agencies later," it added.<br><br>Lavrov was also due to meet his Vietnamese counterpart on Monday, along with the head of Vietnam's Communist Party, and hold a press conference.<br><br>A security source told AFP that Lavrov had not travelled to Vietnam. "No reasons known yet," the source said on condition of anonymity.<br><br>Moscow said the trip was called off due to a scheduling conflict, according to reports.<br><br>"Due to a change in the minister's work schedule, the dates of his trip to Vietnam are being revised," Russian agencies reported, citing the foreign ministry.<br><br>The 11th-hour cancellation came amid a deepening diplomatic crisis between Moscow and London after former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were exposed to a nerve agent in the English city of Salisbury on March 4.<br><br>London has accused the Kremlin of orchestrating an attempted murder on British soil using banned chemical weapons.<br><br>Britain expelled 23 Russian officials earlier this month.<br><br>The Kremlin reciprocated over the weekend, booting out 23 British diplomats and halting the activities of the British Council in Russia.<br><br>Russia was one of [https://www.pata.org/great-places-to-soak-up-the-sunset-in-hanoi/ Hanoi day tour]'s earliest allies, establishing relations in 1950 while Vietnam was still occupied by the French.<br><br>Russia is one of Vietnam's leading trading partners today, and a top military equipment supplier for the communist country.<br><br>Advertisement