Party General Secretary Tô Lâm bids farewell to Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Volodin. VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

RUSSIA – Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Volodin on Monday afternoon concluded his official visit to Việt Nam, during he also co-chaired the fourth session of the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Committee between the Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) and the Russian State Duma.

During his trip on September 28–29, made at the invitation of NA Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn, Chairman Volodin paid tribute to President Hồ Chí Minh at the late leader's mausoleum and laid flowers at the monument to heroes and martyrs in Hà Nội.

Party General Secretary Tô Lâm, State President Lương Cường, and Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính had meetings with the State Duma Chairman. Meanwhile, NA Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn hosted a welcome ceremony for and talks with Volodin. The two parliamentary leaders co-chaired the fourth session of the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Committee.

At the events, the Vietnamese leaders stressed that Volodin’s visit is vivid testimony to the will and determination of both sides to further advance the traditional friendship and Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Việt Nam and Russia. They underlined the importance of the visit to the countries' close, trustworthy, and effective ties as well as to the enhancement of parliamentary connections, especially as the two countries celebrate the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year.

Việt Nam reaffirmed that it always treasures its traditional friendship and Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Russia.

The Vietnamese leaders highlighted the encouraging progress in bilateral relations across all fields over the past year. They proposed that the Russian State Duma intensify cooperation with the Vietnamese NA, particularly in sharing experience in building a “smart parliament”, improving the legal framework, and facilitating all-round cooperation, particularly in economy, trade, investment, energy, science – technology, education – training, culture, and people-to-people exchanges.

For his part, Chairman Volodin expressed gratitude to the Vietnamese leaders and people for their warm and thoughtful reception. He congratulated Việt Nam on its impressive socio-economic achievements and wished the country continued success in fulfilling the development goals set by the Communist Party of Việt Nam.

He affirmed that he and the Russian State Duma strongly support advancing all-faceted cooperation with Việt Nam and are ready to join the Vietnamese NA in supporting the two countries' unceasing expansion of cooperation mechanisms and exploration of new collaboration directions.

At the fourth session of the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, both sides agreed that the annual rotational meetings demonstrate the two legislatures' determination to further deepen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The session concluded with a joint communiqué outlining orientations for future parliamentary cooperation in line with the characteristics of bilateral relations and the two sides' needs in the new context.

During the visit, Chairman Volodin also toured the Việt Nam – Russia Tropical Centre and the Việt Nam Military History Museum. — VNA/VNS