Vietnam's Party chief holds talks with Russian President Putin, agreeing on major orientations for bilateral ties

Vietnam's Party chief To Lam held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin Palace in Moscow on Saturday (local time), within the framework of his official visit to Russia.

Previously, he had attended the military parade to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War (May 9).

At the talks, President Putin respectfully thanked General Secretary Lam and his spouse, along with a high-ranking delegation of Vietnam for attending the ceremony to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War and the Vietnam People's Army for sending forces to participate in the parade at the Red Square on Friday.

He affirmed that the Russia-Vietnam relationship has stood the test of time over the past 75 years since the establishment of relations, and the two countries have stood side by side not only during the war but also in the current period of peace.

President Putin affirmed that Party chief Lam's visit was extremely meaningful, especially on the occasion of the two countries celebrating many important events, including the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations, the 50th anniversary of Vietnam's liberation of the South and national reunification (April 30), and the 80th anniversary of Vietnam's National Day (September 2).

Lam congratulated Russia on successfully and solemnly organizing the Victory Day celebration and affirmed that this was a particularly important event that would forever go down in human history.

He emphasized that the Soviet Union and Russia had wholeheartedly supported Vietnam in the struggle for national independence and national reunification in the past and in the country's current construction and development process.

The Vietnamese Party leader affirmed that President Putin is a great friend and close comrade of Vietnam. He sincerely thanked Putin and other leaders of Russia for their warm welcome for him, his spouse and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation during this visit. Lam congratulated Russia on its development achievements in recent times under the leadership of President Putin.

On this occasion, the General Secretary conveyed the greetings and best wishes from State President Luong Cuong and senior leaders of the Party and State of Vietnam to President Putin and senior leaders of the Russian Federation.

He informed President Putin about the situation in Vietnam, in which Vietnam has maintained political stability and economic growth, and ensured people's lives. Vietnam is urgently implementing the country's development goals to become a high-income country by 2045.

The two leaders agreed to affirm that the leaders and people of Vietnam and the Russian Federation always treasure the long-standing traditional friendship between the two countries that has been tested by time, constantly consolidated and developed, towards the long-term interests of the people of the two countries, for the common prosperity of the two nations, and for peace, cooperation, and development in the region and the world.

They expressed their delight at the positive development of the Vietnam-Russia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in many fields, especially cooperation in economy, trade, energy, education-training, science-technology, and innovation.

Party General Secretary Lam and President Putin acknowledged the results of the implementation of high-level agreements. They highly appreciated the activities of the Vietnam-Russia Intergovernmental Committee in promoting bilateral relations in all fields, from politics to economy - trade, investment, energy, oil and gas, nuclear power, security, defense, culture, people-to-people exchanges; and in promoting cooperation between localities of the two countries.

Lam suggested that the two sides increase the exchange of delegations at all levels and through channels; step up economic - trade and investment, transport cooperation; promote e-commerce; and boost labor cooperation as Russia has high demand.

He said he hoped that Russia would create conditions for Vietnamese postgraduates to participate in research in fields such as nuclear, fundamental physics; highly evaluated Russia's prestige and strengths in biology and pharmaceuticals and expected that the two sides would cooperate in drug and vaccine research, especially soon opening a research facility and testing anti-cancer vaccines in Vietnam, aiming at transferring technology and producing drugs and vaccines in Vietnam.

The Party chief also urged Russia to support the promotion and teaching of the Russian language in Vietnam and promote Vietnamese language training, establish a Vietnamese cultural center in Russia; and encourage people-to-people exchanges. He proposed Russia consider visa exemptions for Vietnamese citizens, especially for short-term business trips, and increase the issuance of electronic visas.

Emphasizing the great significance of the visit, in the context that the two countries are celebrating the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations and important historical events of each country, General Secretary Lam and President Putin agreed on the need for specific projects, symbolizing the Vietnam-Russia friendship in the new era.

The two sides support the two countries' energy, oil and gas enterprises to strengthen cooperation, expand investment and operate in each other's territories, in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The two leaders agreed to create new, substantive and effective development steps in the fields of science-technology, atomic energy, biotechnology, semiconductor industry, digital infrastructure development and information.

They agreed to promote the implementation of joint scientific research projects on the basis of agreements signed between the two countries. In the fields of defense-security and military technology, the two sides agreed to further deepen bilateral cooperation, jointly respond to non-traditional security challenges, cyber security, and high-tech crime prevention on the basis of international law and practice, contributing to peace and security in the region and the world.

President Putin highly appreciated the Vietnamese community’s increasingly important contributions to Russia’s socio-economic development. On this occasion, General Secretary Lam asked Russia to continue creating favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community to live, work and study to further contribute to the development of Russia as well as the good traditional friendship between the two nations.

The two leaders also discussed international and regional issues of mutual concern, emphasizing the respect for the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter and international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS.

On this occasion, the two countries issued a Joint Statement on major orientations of the Vietnam-Russia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in the new cooperation period, highly appreciating the important achievements of the bilateral relationship, affirming the principles, setting out major orientations to promote and strengthen cooperation, develop the traditional friendship and the Vietnam-Russia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, for the long-term interests of the people of the two countries, and for peace, security and sustainable development in the region and the world.

The governments and agencies of the two countries have also signed many documents and cooperation agreements, strengthening the legal basis for promoting the bilateral relations in the fields of diplomacy, defense, oil and gas exploration and exploitation, nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, science and technology, justice, health, education and training, biomedicine, culture, and aviation.

On this occasion, General Secretary Lam respectfully invited President Putin to visit Vietnam again soon and the latter happily accepted the invitation.