Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong

On behalf of the Vietnamese Party, State and people, Party General Secretary and President Trong congratulated President Putin and the Russian people on their Russia Day, stating Vietnam always attaches importance to the countries’ comprehensive strategic partnership. He also spoke highly of Russia’s enormous achievements under Putin’s leadership.

On this occasion, he also offered greetings to the Russian people on the 75th anniversary of the victory over fascism, affirming that the Vietnamese people always keep in mind and treasure this historic triumph.

During the talks, the two leaders discussed many important cooperation aspects of their countries, along with some international and regional issues of shared concern.

Party General Secretary and President Trong expressed his sympathies for the losses caused by COVID-19 to Russia and hailed the country’s drastic measures and contributions to the international community’s common fight against this pandemic.

For his part, President Putin highly valued Vietnam’s successful control of the coronavirus outbreak and thanked it for practical assistance for his country in this combat.

The two sides agreed to foster cooperation in the COVID-19 fight and continue to provide timely support for each other’s citizens.

The leaders shared the view that the Vietnam-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership has continued to enjoy great strides in the recent past.

As both nations are jointly celebrating many important events, including 70 years of their diplomatic ties, the two leaders agreed to maintain frequent contacts at all levels, especially high level, and coordinate to organise meaningful activities within the Vietnam-Russia Cross Year 2019-2020 that suit the current context.

They also stated that defence, security and energy are important pillars of the bilateral cooperation, agreeing to further tighten links in these fields.

Party General Secretary and President Trong and President Putin agreed to continue supporting and encouraging their countries’ oil and gas companies to take part in new projects in Vietnam and Russia.

They will also further facilitate trade and investment partnerships and optimise the free trade agreement between Vietnam and Eurasian Economic Union, in which Russia is a member, to soon raise bilateral trade to 10 billion USD; while creating optimal conditions for the countries to develop economy and address consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Talking about international and regional issues of common concern, the leaders applauded and agreed to reinforce Vietnam-Russia cooperation at multilateral forums while coordinating with each other to promote peace, security, cooperation and international law in the world, as well as in their respective regions.

The Vietnamese leader said as ASEAN Chair in 2020, his country will exert efforts to enhance ASEAN-Russia relations. In return, President Putin also voiced his belief that Vietnam will be successful in its post as ASEAN Chair this year and a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2020-2021.

On this occasion, Party General Secretary and President Trong invited President Putin to pay an official visit to Vietnam in the near future. The Russian leader accepted the invitation with pleasure./.VNA