On the afternoon of August 6, at the National Assembly House, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Vietnam Gennady Bezdetko.

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man receives Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Vietnam Gennady Bezdetko. Photo: Van Diep/VNA.

Through the Ambassador, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man sent sincere thanks to the leaders of the Russian Federation for sending letters and telegrams of condolences on the passing of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong; and at the same time sent the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation to attend the funeral of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, expressing the special and deep affection of the Russian Federation for Vietnam.

The National Assembly Chairman also acknowledged and thanked the Ambassador for connecting to successfully organize the State visit to Vietnam by President Vladimir Putin in June 2024; expressed his impression of the successful results of this visit.

The National Assembly Chairman stated that developing relations with the Russian Federation is a consistent policy, a strategic choice, and a top priority in the foreign policy of the Party, State, and people of Vietnam to implement an independent, self-reliant, multilateral, and diversified foreign policy. The Vietnamese people always remember the sincere and wholehearted assistance of the Russian people in the cause of national liberation as well as in the current national construction and development.

The National Assembly Chairman assessed that over the past time, the Vietnam - Russia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership has been continuously consolidated and developed well. The two sides regularly exchange delegations at all levels and high levels.

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man receives Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Vietnam Gennady Bezdetko. Photo: Van Diep/VNA.

According to the National Assembly Chairman, the potential and room for cooperation between the two countries is still very large. In 2023, two-way trade between Vietnam and the Russian Federation will be about 3.6 billion USD; in the first 6 months of 2024, it will reach about 2.34 billion USD (an increase of 45.4% over the same period in 2023). The National Assembly Chairman proposed promoting economic and trade cooperation commensurate with the relationship between the two countries.

The National Assembly Chairman also proposed regular exchanges of delegations at all levels and high levels; strengthening cooperation between the Parliaments and Friendship Parliamentarians' Groups of the two countries to exchange experiences in legislation, supervision and decision-making on important issues.

Russian Ambassador Gennady Bezdetko agreed with National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man's assessment of the development of bilateral relations; highly appreciated the close cooperation and mutual support between the Vietnamese National Assembly and the State Duma of the Russian Federation; affirmed that parliamentary cooperation is an important cooperation channel in the overall Vietnam - Russian Federation relations.

Ambassador Gennady Bezdetko affirmed that he will continue to make efforts to deepen the Vietnam-Russia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership; and hopes to promote bilateral cooperation in many fields, including economics - trade, defense - security, education - training, science - technology, tourism, people-to-people exchange, etc.