Vietnamese President Võ Văn Thưởng and Russian President Vladimir Putin had talks on Tuesday in Beijing as the two attended the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. — VNA/VNS Photo Dương Trung Cường

BEIJING — President Võ Văn Thưởng had a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing, China, on Tuesday on the sidelines of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF).

The two leaders expressed their delight at the positive development of the Việt Nam-Russia traditional friendship and the  comprehensive strategic partnership based on political trust and extensive cooperation. They took note of significant progress achieved recently, such as maintaining all-level exchanges and advancing joint work in various fields including economy-trade, defence-security, science-technology, education, training, energy, and people-to-people exchanges.

They highlighted the exchange of high-level delegations between the two countries and parties recently, such as telephone talks between Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng and President Putin, and the visits of leader of the ruling United Russia party Dmitry Medvedev and Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Victorovich Volodin.

President Thưởng affirmed that Việt Nam always remembers Russia’s support in the past and at present. He went on highlighting that in implementing the foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralisation, and diversification, Việt Nam considers Russia one of its most important partners and wants to foster the two countries’ comprehensive strategic partnership across all fields for their prosperity and the sake of their peoples.

The State leader expressed his appreciation for Russian agencies and localities's assistance in building the statue of President Hồ Chí Minh in Saint Petersburg and hoped that Russia will continue to provide scholarships to Vietnamese students and enhance the bilateral cultural and people-to-people exchanges. He also proposed more favourable conditions created for the Vietnamese expatriate community in Russia.

Putin stated that Việt Nam is one of the most important partners of Russia in the Asia-Pacific region and invited Thưởng to visit Russia at an appropriate time. 

The two leaders agreed that plenty of room is available for further strengthening the bilateral relationship in the time to come. Putin concurred with Thuong’s opinions and assessments, especially regarding the directions and measures to promote the ties, including the enhancement of mutual understanding and political trust through all-level visits and exchanges, as well as the expansion of collaboration in economy, trade, security, defence, science, technology, culture, education, energy, and other areas according to bilateral agreements.

They also discussed the utilisation of bilateral and multilateral mechanisms and frameworks for economic, trade and investment cooperation, including the Việt Nam-Russia intergovernmental commission on economic-trade and sci-tech cooperation and the Eurasian Economic Union-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement.

Besides, the two leaders exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern.

Thưởng took the occasion to extend an invitation to President Putin to visit Việt Nam in the near future, which he accepted with pleasure. —  VNS