Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Vietnam will forward shared energy interests, particularly oil and gas projects in the South China Sea, but reinvigorating a stalled defense industrial relationship is likely a bridge too far. From June 19-20, Putin visited Vietnam where he met with General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and President To Lam . The leaders signed several agreements on areas such as educational ties, ministerial-level collaboration, nuclear energy research, healthcare, and joint oil and gas operations in the South China Sea. The deals probably also included a trade financing mechanism, as Vietnam has left the Russian MIR payment system while Russia was excised from the SWIFT payment system , complicating transactions between the two countries.