Roundup: Vietnam, Russia vow to strengthen ties

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Vietnamese high-ranking leaders on Monday vowed to further strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

The Russian PM is paying an official visit to Vietnam from Sunday to Tuesday. On Monday, he held talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Tan Dung and met with Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang, Chairman of Vietnam's National Assembly (NA) Nguyen Sinh Hung and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong.

During the talks with Dung, the two sides affirmed to continue consistently implementing measures to strengthen the bilateral ties as well as promoting cooperation in all areas for long-term benefit of the two nations.

The visit of Medvedev to Vietnam, which is made in the year 2015 when the two countries are celebrating the 65th anniversary of diplomatic establishment, will create impetus for developing the Vietnam-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership as saying by Nguyen Tan Dung during talks.

A total of eight cooperation documents in areas ranging from energy to trade, investment and other industries were signed by ministries, agencies and enterprises under the witness of the two PMs after their talks on Monday.

While receiving the visiting Russian PM, Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang highlighted the significance of Medvedev's visit to Vietnam as the two countries are celebrating the 65th anniversary of their diplomatic ties.

Sang said the accelerating to soon sign a free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union in the first half of this year will facilitate the realization of the targeted 10- billion-U.S. dollar in trade revenue between the two countries by 2020, as well as stimulating investment and production in the two countries.

The president hailed the talks between the two PMs and the implementation of the agreements on oil, gas, and nuclear power between the two countries.

Medvedev, for his part, conveyed Russian President Vladimir Putin's invitation to Sang to visit Russia on the upcoming occasion of the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Second World War to be held in early May.

The Russian PM also said his current visit to Vietnam as well as the expected visit of President Sang to Russia will contribute to promoting the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

Also on Monday, Chairman of Vietnam's NA Nguyen Sinh Hung met with Medvedev. The Vietnamese top legislator expressed his belief that the outcomes of the talks between the two PMs will serve as a new driving force for the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Russia.

The Russian PM expressed his hope that the Vietnamese parliament will support the agreements signed between the two sides for the benefit of the two nations.

Hung, for his part, said the Vietnamese NA strongly supports the agreements between the two countries, adding that the NA will strengthen its monitoring to ensure effective implementation of the agreements.

Later on the day, the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and United Russia Party (URP), the ruling parties of the two countries, inked a cooperation agreement between the two parties in 2015-2017 period.

According to the Vietnamese party chief Nguyen Phu Trong, the signing of the agreement lays a solid groundwork for their partnership, while the Russian PM told Trong that his country remains determined to foster the comprehensive strategic partnership with Vietnam and cooperation between the two parties. Endi