State President Truong Tan Sang joined leaders of various countries and international organisations in the largest victory parade in Russia 's history on May 9 at Red Square , Moscow to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

President Truong Tan Sang joined world leaders in the parade to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. VNA/VNS Photos

Participants paid a minute's silence in memory of fallen soldiers from the former Soviet Union and the allies.

More than 16,500 troops, including those from Azerbaijan , Armenia , Belarus , Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Tajikistan , Serbia , China, India and Mongolia , joined the parade.

Cutting-edge military equipment including the next-generation Armata T-14 tank and nuclear missile systems rumbled through the square along with the famed war-era T-34 tank.

Leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), Gennady Zyuganov, told President Truong Tan Sang in Moscow that his Party consistently backed the Russian President and government's initiatives to develop ties with Viet Nam.

Zyuganov also expressed confidence that under the leadership of the Communist Party of Viet Nam, the country would continue progressing towards greater prosperity.

He said the CPRF recently admitted an additional 25,000 new members who want to foster exchanges with their Vietnamese counterparts.

President Sang, who is in Moscow for the four-day (May 7-10) 70th Anniversary celebration of victory in the Great Patriotic War, called for intensified political collaboration through regular visits.

The Vietnamese Party, State and people appreciate the invaluable support that Russian communists and people had rendered Viet Nam during their struggles for national independence, he said.

Sang also welcomed the co-operation projects proposed by the CPRF to boost bilateral ties.

Later the same day, Sang received business leaders including defence firms and vowed all possible support for Russian investors in Viet Nam.

As Viet Nam shifts to new growth models, fine tunes its legal framework and steps up infrastructure development, it gives high priority to ties with Russia.

A representative of the Leanvest Group requested support for seafood processing and export businesses from the far eastern part of Russia. He also hoped for preferential tax incentives for seafood and other products, as also the promotion of Russian culture in Viet Nam through its films.

President Sang told the leader of a submarine building group, that Russia was a significant military technical partner for Viet Nam.

He said Viet Nam -Russia engagements in national defence and security would contribute to peace and stability in the region and beyond.

The group had transferred three of six submarines ordered by Viet Nam and was working to hand over the remaining three by 2016, President Sang was told.

The group's representative also thanked Viet Nam for choosing it to build the first fleet of submarines in the country.

President Sang laid a wreath at a monument dedicated to the late President Ho Chi Minh in Moscow.

He was accompanied by Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Thanh Son, Russian war veterans who assisted Vietnamese soldiers during the –American War, and representatives of Vietnamese community in Russia.

The State leader, his spouse and Vice President of the Russia-Viet Nam Friendship Association, Maj. Gen Anatoly Pozdeyev, planted a pine tree behind the monument

VNS