Putin thanks Myanmar for gift of 6 elephant calves as he meets junta leader

Russian president Vladimir Putin hosted the Myanmar junta chief and extended his gratitude to the military leader who faced a potential arrest warrant at the international criminal court for alleged crimes against Rohingya Muslims.

It was military General Min Aung Hlaing’s fourth visit to Russia since he directed a coup in 2021 and ousted the administration of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, throwing the country into a civil war.

However, it was the first time the general personally met the Russian president and held bilateral talks, where the two leaders heaped praises on each other.

Myanmar’s military-run government had sent six elephants to Russia in January to mark the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The gift coincided with Russia's completing delivery of six fighter jets to Myanmar, as part of so-called "elephant diplomacy" between two governments viewed dimly in Western capitals.

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In the televised meeting at the Kremlin, General Hlaing referred to Mr Putin as a “king” and offered support for his war in Ukraine which has entered its fourth year.

“I believe that victory must be yours under your strong and decisive leadership,” he told Mr Putin.

Mr Putin hailed the steadily developing ties and “substantive and constructive” talks with General Hlaing, adding that Moscow and Naypidaw were “bound by truly strong bonds of friendship, traditions of support, and mutual assistance,” according to a statement from his office.

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“And of course, I cannot but thank you for your very warm gift: You brought us six elephants last year, and they have already been given to the Moscow Zoo,” Mr Putin said.

The warming of ties between head of the Myanmar’s beleaguered military and Mr Putin reflected closeness in strategic and diplomatic relations between the two countries that are viewed as pariahs by Western nations and faced a slew of sanctions.

Western nations have imposed economic and political sanctions on Myanmar in response to the takeover and the violent repression of the opposition, which has led to the deaths of thousands of civilians and given rise to an armed conflict widely seen as a civil war.

Russia, along with China, is a major supporter and arms supplier to Myanmar. Russian-made fighter jets are used in attacks on territory under control of ethnic minority groups, many of them allies with pro-democracy resistance forces.

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Mr Putin noted that the bilateral trade has soared to 40 per cent between the two countries and signed an agreement on the construction of a small-scale nuclear plant in Myanmar.

Rosatom, Russia's state nuclear power corporation, said the plant would have a capacity of 100mw with the possibility of trebling that capacity.

Mr Putin also announced that a military unit from Myanmar would take part in the military parade in Moscow on 9 May marking the 80th anniversary of the World War Two victory over Nazi Germany. He said General Hlaing would also attend.

General Hlaing, 68, rarely travels abroad and avoids the media limelight as he struggles with an ongoing civil war in the country, a tattered economy in the country of 55 million which the United Nations says is in urgent need of aid.

In November 2024, the International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan requested an arrest warrant for General Hlaing, alleging crimes against humanity related to the persecution of the Rohingya Muslim minority. This request is currently under review by ICC judges, who will determine whether to issue the warrant.

In February this year, an Argentine court, invoking the principle of universal jurisdiction, issued an arrest warrant against General Hlaing. Myanmar's military spokesperson dismissed the ruling as "baseless" and accused Argentina's judiciary of political interference

Nay Phone Latt, a spokesperson for Myanmar's main opposition National Unity Government, said the military leader is in desperate need of international recognition and willing to trade the country's resources in exchange.

"So, to maintain his power, he will go to countries that will recognise him and provide him with some kind of assistance," Nay Phone Latt told the Associated Press.