Ambassador GSBezdetko: Driving force for developing Vietnam

On the morning of June 19, ahead of the State visit to Vietnam by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Vietnam GSBezdetko gave his assessment of the visit and the Vietnam - Russian Federation relationship.

People-to-people exchange "keeps the fire" of Vietnam-Russia friendship

Strengthening Vietnam - Russian Federation relations for peace , cooperation and development

Đại sứ G.S.Bezdetko: Động lực phát triển quan hệ hợp tác Việt Nam - Liên bang Nga

Russian Ambassador to Vietnam Prof. Bezdetko. (Photo: VNA)

Many documents are expected to be signed.

At the invitation of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin will pay a State visit to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam from June 19-20, 2024. Assessing the visit, Ambassador GSBezdetko emphasized that the upcoming visit is of a State nature, the highest protocol level in relations between countries.

The Ambassador said that President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin will visit Vietnam as Head of a delegation of federal and regional leaders as well as major Russian businesses.

During his visit, President Putin is expected to hold talks and meetings with Vietnamese leaders; and attend a meeting with delegates who are Vietnamese graduates of universities in the former Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. It is expected that the two sides will adopt a Joint Statement and sign cooperation documents in the fields of highereducation , justice, customs regulations, healthcare, energy, and through scientific organizations.

Ambassador GSBezdetko emphasized that President Putin's visit to Vietnam this time coincides with the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on the Fundamental Principles of Friendly Relations between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Russian Federation (June 16, 1994 - June 16, 2024). "This historic document has contributed to significantly expanding the interaction between the two countries, while laying the foundation for the development and implementation of major joint projects and initiatives in many fields. This document marks the beginning of a new stage in the development of multifaceted cooperation between our two countries and creates the premise for strengthening joint cooperation, bringing Russia-Vietnam relations to the level of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership," the Ambassador assessed.

In the coming time, the two countries will celebrate a number of important days such as the 30th anniversary of the operation of the Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant - the largest hydropower complex in Vietnam built with the help of the Soviet Union and completed with the help of the Russian Federation (December 2024), the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries (January 2025), and the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Vietnam - Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) Free Trade Agreement (May 2025).

Diversify bilateral cooperation

Ambassador Prof. Bezdetko affirmed that the cooperative relations between Vietnam and the Russian Federation over the past three decades have always been dynamically expanded and bilateral cooperation has been diversified. In 2001, the Russia-Vietnam Declaration on Strategic Partnership was signed in Hanoi; in 2012, the Russia-Vietnam Strategic Partnership was upgraded to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Regular political dialogues have been established at all levels. There are effective interaction mechanisms in the fields of trade, economics, science, technology and humanity.

Direct dialogue between leaders is always an opportunity to strengthen political trust, especially in the current situation when the global political and economic landscape is undergoing dramatic changes. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, when all contacts were switched to online form, the leaders of Russia and Vietnam still regularly exchanged and discussed the most urgent issues on the bilateral agenda.

President Vladimir Putin has visited Vietnam four times, including two official visits (in 2001 and 2013) and two APEC summits in Hanoi and Da Nang (in 2006 and 2017), and also had meetings with Vietnamese leaders.

In 2023, visiting Vietnam will be Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation VVVolodin, Chairman of the All-Russian political party "United Russia", Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation DAMedvedev; First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation AVYatskin; Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation DNChernyshenko. In 2022, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov visited Vietnam.

During the past year, Minister of Public Security, now President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam To Lam; Head of the Central External Relations Commission Le Hoai Trung; Minister of National Defense Phan Van Giang and Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Khac Dinh visited Russia. The results of the meetings and negotiations have created a good foundation for relations at the highest level.

With a good foundation from the above high-level delegation exchanges, Ambassador GSBezdetko affirmed that the upcoming visit of President Vladimir Putin aims to create more momentum to develop Russia-Vietnam cooperation in many fields. The focus is on enhancing interactions in traditional fields such as economics and investment, science and technology, education and training, culture and tourism, humanitarian exchanges, and defense and security.

Referring to the cooperation between the two countries on regional and global issues, Ambassador Prof. Bezdetko said that in the new reality on the international arena, the Eastern direction in Russia's foreign policy is becoming one of the directions of long-term decisive significance. In this context, Russia wishes to continue to strengthen its multifaceted partnership with leading countries and international associations in this part of the world, primarily with ASEAN, first of all to maintain the central role of this association in regional issues.

Russia is ready to cooperate closely with Vietnam in the international arena, first of all at the United Nations and within ASEAN-centered frameworks, based on the closeness or coincidence of views on key issues of the global and regional agenda, promoting common approaches to solving pressing problems of the time, upholding the fundamental principles of sovereign equality, non-interference in the internal affairs of independent states, legality and justice in international relations.

Russia supports the strengthening of multi-platform cooperation between the leading associations of our continent, first of all the Eurasian Economic Union, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and ASEAN in the interests of strengthening economic ties and forming the Greater Eurasian Partnership - a single open, seamless and mutually beneficial space for cooperation with the participation of all interested countries. The BRICS group of the world's leading emerging economies is one of the promising platforms for interaction with Vietnam.

Potential for expanding cooperation

According to Ambassador Prof. Bezdetko, the potential for further strengthening and diversifying the bilateral cooperation between Russia and Vietnam is huge. Such cooperation is based on the unchanging tradition of friendship, mutual assistance and mutual benefit built by previous generations of the two countries and is aimed solely at ensuring the happiness and prosperity of the peoples of the two countries.

“We look forward to continuing close and effective cooperation in such areas as energy, industrial production, science and technology, education and training, defense and security, trade and investment, as well as consistently implementing agreements at the highest and highest levels. We believe that further strengthening the relations between Russia and Vietnam fully meets the fundamental interests of our two peoples,” the Ambassador stated.

According to the Ambassador, among the key tasks to be addressed are ensuring peace and security in the broadest sense; combating terrorism, transnational crime, drug trafficking; existing and emerging challenges and threats.

Russia attaches great importance to efforts to combat climate change and in the field of a just energy transition and is ready to cooperate with Vietnam in the field of clean energy and decarbonization of the economy. “Russia, as one of the world leaders in this field, is ready to provide Vietnam with the most modern technologies in the field of “clean”, reliable and stable” electricity, first of all nuclear power - this is what many Asian countries choose as an alternative to traditional energy sources,” Ambassador Prof. Bezdetko said.

In the field of education, the Ambassador said that Russia has established the Union of Technical Universities to expand opportunities for training specialists in the fields of high technology, information technology, energy and aircraft manufacturing. Russia provides Vietnam with the largest free education quota, including 1,000 scholarships. Russia is pleased with the achievements of Vietnamese students graduating from Russian universities who are working in many economic, industrial, medical, cultural and educational sectors of Vietnam as well as holding important leadership positions in the Party and Government. These people are the core of Russian-Vietnamese people's diplomacy.

Both in Russia and Vietnam, educational and cultural events aimed at promoting the traditional values of the two peoples, the Russian and Vietnamese languages, as well as events commemorating memorable dates in the history of the two countries and bilateral relations are regularly and successfully organized.

According to the Ambassador, people-to-people diplomacy remains one of the most important tools in the interaction of the two countries in the humanitarian field, without which it is difficult to imagine the Russia-Vietnam relationship in principle. This is an excellent example of how to build a real partnership.

President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly spoken about the close relationship between Russia and Vietnam over the past decades. Ambassador GSBezdetko affirmed that Vietnam and the Russian Federation have a rich common history, extensive experience in cooperation in most areas, extensive political dialogue, highly dynamic humanitarian exchanges, similar values and development orientations. All of these are a reliable basis for further developing bilateral relations, constantly consolidating and developing the Russia - Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in the current period.

Giao lưu nhân dân “giữ lửa” tình hữu nghị Việt - Nga

People-to-people exchange "keeps the fire" of Vietnam-Russia friendship

People-to-people exchanges not only help maintain and develop friendly relations but also create new opportunities for the people of Vietnam and the Russian Federation to become closer and more connected. Promoting people-to-people exchanges therefore plays an important role in "keeping the fire" of the Vietnam-Russian Federation friendship. Vietnamese Ambassador to the Russian Federation Dang Minh Khoi said this when speaking to the press during the State visit to Vietnam by Russian President V. Putin from June 19-20, 2024.