A ceremony to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the Russia-Vietnam Friendship Association was held in Moscow on November 22.

The association is the legal successor of the former Soviet Union-Vietnam Friendship Organisation, established on July 31, 1958, one of the oldest such associations in Russia, said its Chairman Vladimir Petrovitch Buyanov.

With nearly 5,000 members and over 20 branches in different Russian cities, it is also one of country’s largest, he added.

According to the chairman, the ceremony, together with the inauguration of the Hanoi-Moscow Culture and Trading Centre, is an important activity within the framework of the “Hanoi Days in Moscow.”

On the occasion, President Truong Tan Sang and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin sent greetings to the association.

Its Vice President Major General Anatoli Pozedev was presented with a Friendship Order, while the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations awarded “For the Cause of Peace and Friendship” insignias to 10 members of the association.-VNA