Junta chief Min Aung Haling meets Russian Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov on Wednesday in Naypyitaw. / Myawaddy
A Russian legal delegation led by Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov visited Myanmar’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw on Wednesday.
It is the first visit by a Russian legal delegation to Myanmar following military, economic and academic visits since the 2021 coup.
Krasnov is a member of Russia’s Security Council and has been sanctioned by the US, Canada, the EU, Japan and the UK for Russia’s war against Ukraine and atrocities against Ukrainian citizens. He was appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2020.
Min Aung Hlaing and Krasnov discussed sending military officers to learn Russian military law, Russian legal training in Myanmar, potential further legal cooperation and bilateral language classes.
The Russian delegation also met junta-appointed legal affairs minister Daw Thida Oo. Her ministry and the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office signed a memorandum of understanding and organized a seminar on legal cooperation.
The deal followed on from Daw Thida Oo’s attendance at the 10th International Legal Forum in St Petersburg last June, according to the junta media.
Bilateral ties have deepened since Myanmar’s 2021 coup. Russia was training Myanmar’s officers before the coup and is now a key supplier of arms. Sanctioned by western countries since the Ukraine invasion, Russia has strengthened ties with Myanmar’s junta, offering economic, diplomatic, academic, nuclear and now legal cooperation.
The International Criminal Court this month issued an arrest warrant for Putin, alleging that he is responsible for war crimes.
In a meeting with Putin in September 2022, Min Aung Hlaing called him a world leader and Putin said Myanmar was a reliable long-term friend.
