At the meeting with Valentina Matvienko, Speaker of the Federal Council of the Federal Assembly of Russia, President Phuc affirmed that Vietnam always considers Russia a priority in its foreign policy and supports Russia to have a greater role and voice in the region and the world.

Meanwhile, Matvienko stressed that President Phuc’s visit this time will create a new motivation to boost bilateral ties.

Regarding the coordination between the Vietnamese National Assembly and the Federal Assembly of Russia at international and regional forums, President Phuc said this has contributed to strengthening bilateral ties as well as regional and international peace and security.

For her part, Matvienko asserted that the Federal Council always backs strengthening relations with Vietnam. The council will continue to work closely with the Vietnamese NA to speed up the implementation of cooperation agreements and projects between the two countries, she noted.

On the afternoon of December 1, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Speaker of the Federal Council of the Russian Federal Assembly Valentina Matvienko visited an exhibition on the strategic partnership between Vietnam and Russia over the two decades.

On display are 20 precious photos captured by reporters of the Vietnam News Agency and Russia’s TASS news agency, which talk about remarkable achievements gained over the past 20 years of cooperation between the two countries.

Among others is a photo on the visit to Vietnam by President Vladimir Putin on March 1, 2001, his first visit to the Asian country as the president of Russia.

On the same day, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Chairman of the Vietnamese National Defense- Security Council had a meeting with Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, who is also Chairman of the ruling United Russia party.

Congratulating the 20th founding anniversary of the United Russia Party, Phuc affirmed that the party plays an important role for the development of Russia as well as the relationship between Russia and Vietnam.

For his part, Medvedev highly spoke of the significance of Phuc's visit to Russia, affirming that the visit contributes to opening up a new phase for the relations between the two countries.

The two sides also agreed to further promote the bilateral cooperation in all fields, including cooperation between Vietnam’s Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Public Security and the Security Council of Russia./.

On the morning of December 2, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc received Chairman of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Gennady Ziuganov.

President Phuc affirmed that Vietnam always attaches great importance to the traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia, including the traditional friendship relations with the Russian communist party.

Phuc stressed Vietnam always remembers the great help and assistance the Russian Communist Party and the Russian people have granted for Vietnam in the past struggle for national independence as well as in its national development cause.

For his part, Chairman Ziuganov congratulated Vietnam on achieving many important achievements over the past time. He said the official visit by President Nguyen Xuan Phuc will contribute to creating a new impetus for bilateral relations./.

VNA