Myanmar Junta chief heads for meeting with key ally Putin

Myanmar’s junta chief departed Monday for talks with President Vladimir Putin in Russia, a key ally and arms supplier for the isolated state struggling to quell violent opposition to military rule.

Min Aung Hlaing, who seized power in a 2021 coup, left the capital Naypyidaw with a retinue of high-ranking officials, according the junta’s information service, and is due to meet Putin on Tuesday.

Analysts say Moscow’s support has become vital to the military administration, particularly its air force, as it battles an array of ethnic minority armed groups and pro-democracy guerrillas on multiple fronts.

The junta suffered significant territorial losses after a 2023 rebel offensive but its air power has been pivotal to arresting the advance of opposition forces.

“Russia has been invaluable in helping them keep their air fleet afloat,” Morgan Michaels, research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank, told AFP.

“We suspect Russian technicians have helped the Myanmar air force maintain the tempo of operations.”

The Moscow meeting will be the first between Min Aung Hlaing and Putin in more than two years, according to Russian state media.

“The parties will discuss prospects for further development of mutually beneficial Russian-Myanmar cooperation, as well as topical international issues,” a Kremlin statement said.

Salvos of Western sanctions have hit Myanmar following the 2021 coup and Russia after its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Both countries are seeking to foster stronger ties to friendly nations to offset the punitive measures, analysts say.

But exchanges have not been limited to military and trade.

In January, Myanmar gifted six elephants to Moscow’s Great Circus “as a token of friendship” according to Russian state news agency TASS.