Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov began his visit to Vietnam on July 6 morning. He laid flowers and paid tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum.

Mr. Lavrov also laid a wreath at the Monument to Heroes and Martyrs on Bac Son Street in Hanoi.

At 10:00 am, he held talks with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son. This afternoon, the Russian Foreign Minister met with Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov's visit on July 5-6 is made at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son. 

The visit of the Russian foreign minister takes place as the two countries with strong traditional relations marked the 10th anniversary of establishing their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2022.

The two diplomats earlier have had phone talks on Ukraine situation in March this year, where Lavrov lauded Vietnam’s role and contribution to peace, stability, and cooperation for development in the region and in the world, while pledging to do his best in supporting the safe evacuation of Vietnamese citizens from Ukraine.

Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, bilateral economic and trade cooperation between the two countries maintained a positive growth momentum with two-way trade in 2020 reaching nearly US$4.85 billion. In 2021, two-way trade increased to $7.1 billion, an increase of more than 25 per cent year-on-year. 

 Tran Thuong