Foreign Ministers of Russia and Vietnam hold talks

Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son is on an official visit to Russia from 1 to 4 April, where he held talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. This is reported on the Russian Foreign Ministry's website.

"Together with our Vietnamese friends, we are actively working to implement the agreements reached in June 2024 during President Vladimir Putin's state visit to Vietnam," Lavrov said during the talks.

He added that Tho Lam, general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party's central committee, has been invited to Russia for May 9 celebrations.

Bui Thanh Son, for his part, said that the strategic partnership between Vietnam and Russia is actively developing.

"The purpose of my visit is to reaffirm our countries' commitment to bilateral cooperation, as well as to prepare for the arrival of Central Committee General Secretary Tho Lam," he said.

Petr Chuvakhin, associate professor at the Department of Legal Regulation of the Fuel and Energy Complex at the MGIMO University, told TV BRICS that the Vietnamese minister's visit is of special significance.

The expert singled out several key areas of possible agreements: access of Russian companies to the Vietnamese market, settlements in national currencies, formation of a legal framework for Vietnam's inclusion in the energy supply system and its subsequent transit to third countries in the region.

According to Chuvakhin, several types of agreements may be considered during the talks: a memorandum of understanding to expand energy cooperation, a protocol on joint investment projects, a technical agreement on the development of logistics infrastructure and an agreement on the establishment of an interdepartmental commission to harmonise legislation in the energy sector.

Earlier, Vietnamese President Luong Cuong held talks with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Hanoi. During the meeting, da Silva invited Cuong to attend two major international events to be held in Brazil this year: the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro and the 30th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Belem.

Photo: Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs