Chairman of Việt Nam's National Assembly Trần Thanh Mẫn and Chairman of the State Duma of Russia Vyacheslav Volodin at their talks on Monday in Moscow. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

MOSCOW — Chairman of the National Assembly of Việt Nam Trần Thanh Mẫn and Chairman of the State Duma of Russia Vyacheslav Volodin held official talks on Monday in Moscow, Russia.

The Russian host welcomed Mẫn on his first visit to Russia following his election as the top Vietnamese legislator with strong support from the Vietnamese National Assembly. Chairman Volodin expressed confidence that, based on this visit, high-level contacts between the parliaments of both countries would become more frequent, laying a solid foundation and contributing positively to the comprehensive strategic partnership between Russia and Việt Nam.

Chairman Mẫn conveyed the regards and well-wishes of Party General Secretary and President Tô Lâm, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính and other senior leaders of Việt Nam to the senior leadership of Russia, including Chairman Volodin. He expressed his pleasure at leading the high-level delegation from the Vietnamese National Assembly on an official visit to Russia, his first foreign trip as Chairman. He sincerely thanked Duma Chairman Volodin and Chairwoman of the Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko for their invitations.

Chairman Volodin said he highly appreciated this visit, which was the first by a key leader of Việt Nam to Russia since Russia successfully held a presidential election and restructured its government and also since Russian President Vladimir Putin's State visit to Việt Nam in June 2024.

Chairman Mẫn congratulated Russia on its recent achievements in ensuring political and social stability as well as economic development and enhancing its international position. He particularly congratulated Russia on successfully organising local elections on September 8.

On behalf of the Party, State and people of Việt Nam, Chairman Mẫn once again thanked the leadership of Russia for sending condolences on the passing of Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng and for sending a delegation led by Deputy Chairman of the State Duma, Tolstoy Petr Olegovich, to attend the State funeral.

The Chairman also thanked the Russian leadership for congratulating President Tô Lâm on being elected General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam and for the important phone conversation that followed between General Secretary Tô Lâm and President Vladimir Putin on August 8, 2024.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed and agreed on measures to strengthen and expand cooperation in line with the traditional and comprehensive strategic partnership between Việt Nam and Russia. They agreed to coordinate activities to commemorate the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2025.

As representatives of legislative bodies, the two Chairmen agreed to cooperate in overseeing and facilitating the implementation of bilateral cooperation across various fields.

Regarding local cooperation, Chairman Mẫn noted that there are currently 20 partnerships between Vietnamese and Russian localities. He called for more frequent exchanges between these localities.

Chairman Mẫn thanked the Russian government for its support of the Vietnamese community living, working and studying in Russia as well as for helping them integrate into Russian society. Both sides emphasised the need to enhance labour cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.

He urged the two sides to sign agreements to draw Vietnamese labourers to Russia and facilitate travel between the two countries. 

The two sides agreed that inter-parliamentary cooperation is a crucial pillar of bilateral relations that continues to be strengthened. Both sides frequently consult and support each other at multilateral parliamentary forums.

The top Vietnamese legislator highlighted the importance of the State Duma's role and praised Chairman Volodin for his contributions to strengthening bilateral relations, including parliamentary cooperation.

The two Chairmen confirmed that the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Committee between the Vietnamese and Russian parliaments is the first and highest cooperation mechanism that the Vietnamese National Assembly has established with a legislative body from another country.

This committee has successfully held two sessions. During this visit, the third session will be held to review and address obstacles to further strengthening cooperation in line with the comprehensive strategic partnership between Việt Nam and Russia. Chairman Volodin suggested that the two sides continue to explore and establish new cooperation mechanisms to further deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership.

Chairman Mẫn proposed that the two sides continue to enhance exchanges of high-level delegations between the leadership of the legislative bodies, cooperation activities between parliamentary committees and exchanges between friendship groups, young parliamentarians and women parliamentarians.

They should also strengthen cooperation in legislative experience sharing, parliamentary activities and oversight of the implementation of bilateral cooperation agreements, he said.

Chairman of Việt Nam's National Assembly Trần Thanh Mẫn and Chairman of the State Duma of Russia Vyacheslav Volodin co-chaired the third session of the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Committee in Moscow. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

Later on Monday, in Moscow, the two countries' parliament leaders co-chaired the third session of the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Committee.

During the session, Chairman Volodin underscored the longstanding and historically significant relationship between Russia and Việt Nam. The session aimed to discuss solutions for developing the bilateral relationship to benefit both nations.

Chairman Mẫn highlighted that the establishment of the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Committee in 2018 was a joint initiative between Russia and Việt Nam. Since then, two effective sessions have deepened the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries across various fields, including socio-economic development, defence and security.

The Chairman also mentioned that following this parliamentary session, on September 11-12, the 25th session of the Việt Nam-Russia Intergovernmental Committee on Economic, Trade and Scientific-Technical Cooperation will take place. The governments of both countries will focus on resolving outstanding issues and setting future directions for cooperation.

The year 2025 will mark the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Việt Nam and Russia, as well as significant anniversaries for both countries, including Việt Nam's 80th National Day and Russia's 80th Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War.

Chairman Mẫn said that these are major events that should be marked by increased high-level exchanges and cooperation at all levels to further deepen relations between the parties, states and people of both countries.

At the conclusion of the third session, the Vietnamese National Assembly and the Russian State Duma issued a joint statement. — VNS