Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has accepted an invitation made by his Vietnamese counterpart to visit Vietnam to strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Phu Trong. Photo: Ria Novosti

The invitation was extended and accepted during a telephone conversation on June 11 with Vietnam’s President Nguyen Phu Trong, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Thursday, giving no details.

At the phone talks proposed by the Vietnamese side, Nguyen Phu Trong, who is also General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, congratulated Vladimir Putin and the entire nation of Russia on the 75th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War and Russia Day.

The two presidents expressed their satisfaction with the current state of the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership, and the hosting of joint events within the framework of the cross years of Russia in Vietnam and Vietnam in Russia in 2019-2020 to mark the 70th anniversary of the bilateral ties this year and the 25th anniversary of the signing of the agreement on friendly relations between the two countries.

The pair affirmed that defense-security and energy are the key pillars of the bilateral relations, committing to further enhancing cooperation in these fields through continued support for Vietnamese and Russian oil and gas companies in their projects in both Vietnam and Russia.

They noted the importance of cooperation in the energy sector, both as part of the existing projects of hydrocarbon exploration and new ones, in particular those of power generation and peaceful use of nuclear energy.

The two dignitaries also pledged to facilitate trade and investment cooperation through fully tapping the potentials of the Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) to meet the two-way trade target of US$10 billion in 2020.

They also praised the cooperation and mutual aid in countering the spread of the coronavirus, including Vietnam’s pandemic relief to Russia.

The two leaders reaffirmed their mutual commitment to promote cooperation on international issues, considering Russia’s chairmanship in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) and Vietnam’s chairmanship in ASEAN.

Putin has visited Vietnam four times as Russian president, in 2001, 2006, 2013 and 2017.