Moscow (VNA) – To enable the two countries to fully capitalise on the momentum generated by the state visit to Russia by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam and turn agreements reached into concrete projects, Ekaterina Makarova, a young journalist from Russia’s Sputnik news agency, emphasised that the younger generation will play a decisive role.
In an interview with the Vietnam News Agency, she observed that since Party General Secretary Lam’s official visit to Russia in May 2025, the special attention paid by the top leaders of the two countries has sent a strong signal, helping rekindle feelings and interest among the two peoples towards each other, particularly among young people.
To illustrate this point, the Russian journalist cited a series of diverse cultural and artistic exchange events held continuously in both Moscow and Hanoi in recent times. A notable example was the large-scale Vietnamese cultural festival held near Red Square, which attracted large numbers of Russian students, including those who had never studied Vietnamese. The appeal of Vietnamese culture was further demonstrated when Vietnamese singer Duc Phuc represented the country and won the Intervision 2025 international music competition in Russia, sparking strong interest in contemporary Vietnamese arts among Russian audiences.
Looking ahead to the International Festival of Youth 2026 scheduled to take place in Yekaterinburg, with participation from more than 60 countries, the Vietnamese delegation is expected to be among the largest.
According to Ekaterina, these are clear examples of how official visits are making a direct and important contribution to enhancing mutual understanding between the two peoples.
The journalist noted that Vietnam is gaining an increasingly prominent position and reputation on the international stage. Despite effectively pursuing a foreign policy of multilateralisation and diversification and expanding relations with new partners, Vietnam has consistently affirmed Russia as a long-standing and strategic trusted partner. In particular, in fields requiring advanced scientific and technological expertise and a high level of professionalism, Vietnam continues to place its trust in Russia for cooperation and the sharing of experience.
For its part, Russia highly values Vietnam’s central role not only in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific but also globally. The clearest demonstration of this recognition is the decision by the jury to award 2026 Lev N. Tolstoy International Peace Prize to General Secretary and President Lam.
Ekaterina recommended the future generations of the two countries work towards practical models of cooperation. A successful precedent can be found at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, Russia, where young lecturers and specialists from Vietnam recently completed an intensive two-week research programme on nuclear energy under the guidance of Russian scientists.
She stressed that Russia currently has many areas of promising technology and highly competitive capabilities in the international market, while Vietnam needs a wide range of technologies to realise its goal of becoming a developing country with modern industry and upper-middle income by 2030. Russia is a trusted partner capable of supporting Vietnam in achieving this goal.
The Russian journalist affirmed that the bilateral friendship cannot rely solely on individual events, but requires regular engagement, sustained attention and joint efforts from both sides. The state visit to Russia by the top Vietnamese leader will be an important milestone for the two countries to continue jointly building and nurturing their traditional friendship and cooperation, taking their ties to greater depth and meeting the aspirations of their leaders and peoples./.
VNA
