President’s Russia visit hoped to deepen bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hand with then Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the ASEAN-Russia Summit in Sochi in 2016. (Photo: Getty)

Hanoi (VNA) – President Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s official visit toRussia from November 29 to December 2, which will be made at the invitation ofPresident Vladimir Putin, is expected to deepen the Vietnam-Russia comprehensivestrategic partnership.

The bilateral political relationship has been continuouslyconsolidated, reflected through the regular exchange of high-level delegations.

Despite serious impacts of theCOVID-19 pandemic, bilateral meetings have been maintained, notably phone talksbetween Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Putin in April 2021,between President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and President Putin in September 2021, andbetween National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and Speaker of the FederationCouncil of the Federal Assembly of Russia Valentina Matvienko in June 2021, and anofficial visit to Russia by Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son in September 2021.

Russian Ambassador to Vietnam Gennady Bezdetko (third from left) hands over a batch of Sputnik V vaccine to Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan (fourth from left). (Photo: VNA)

The two sides have also maintained many coordination anddialogue mechanisms such as the annual Diplomatic-Defence-Security StrategicDialogue at the permanent deputy foreign ministerial level, and the DefenceStrategic Dialogue at the deputy defence ministerial level, and regular politicalconsultations at the deputy foreign ministerial level.

The two sides have closely coordinated and supported eachother at international forums such as the United Nations, the Asia-PacificEconomic Cooperation (APEC) and the Asia–Europe Meeting (ASEM).

Russia supportsVietnam’s stance on settling disputes in the East Sea via peaceful means,without using force or threatening to use force, on the basis ofinternational law, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea(UNCLOS), the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), andworking towards the early completion of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea(COC).

Economic and trade cooperation between the two countries hasalso been developed dynamically in recent years. Two-way trade reached 4.85 billionUSD in 2020, up 9 percent year-on-year. It hit 3.6 billion USD in the firstnine months of this year, up 5 percent against the same period of 2020.

Bach Ho field, a petroleum cooperation project between Vietnam and Russia, has been commercially exploited since mid-1986. (Photo baodautu.vn)

As ofApril 2021, Russian had ranked 25th among countries and territoriesinvesting in Vietnam with 144 projects worth 944 million USD. Meanwhile, Vietnamhad invested in over 20 projects worth nearly 3 billion USD in Russia.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Dang Minh Khoi said that President Phuc's visit is of greatsignificance, helping to deepen the Vietnam-Russia comprehensive strategic partnershipin all fields. The visit also shows that Vietnam has actively implemented itsforeign policy after the 13th National Party Congress in the spirit ofindependence, self-reliance, diversification and multilateralisation, for thesake of the nation, and contributing to peace and stability in the world.

Russian Ambassador to Vietnam Gennady Bezdetko affirmed that President Phuc'svisit is one of the important highlights in the bilateral agenda for 2021,which is expected to bring a new impetus to promote the Russia-Vietnamcomprehensive strategic partnership in many fields./.

VNA