Foreign Minister Lavrov: Russia - Vietnam support the key role of international law
Speaking in Hanoi this afternoon, March 23, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov affirmed that the Russian Federation and Vietnam both support the key role of international law, as well as collective efforts to address the challenges of the times.
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| Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov shook hands before their talks on the morning of March 23. |
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh on his two-day visit to Hanoi today. Speaking at a joint press conference after the talks, Lavrov said that Russia and Vietnam share a common vision for a more equitable, multipolar world order. The two countries support the key role of international law and the central role of the United Nations, and collective efforts to address the challenges of our time.
“Based on the above-mentioned principles, we have a similar view of the situation in the Asia-Pacific region. We agree to build an Asia-Pacific security structure that can ensure sustainable development of all countries in the region. Today, we also recognize that cooperation in the military and military-technical fields between Vietnam and Russia is completely consistent with this goal,” said Mr. Lavrov.
The Russian diplomat added that in order to build a regional cooperation structure to ensure the security of all countries, it is necessary to rely on the central role of ASEAN.
A sustainable and dynamic development relationship
At the talks, the two Ministers assessed that the bilateral relations between the two countries have had many positive developments in recent times, especially the highly trustworthy political relations, which are a solid foundation for the sustainable and dynamic development of the Vietnam - Russia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Pham Binh Minh said that the two sides were pleased to see that cooperation in the fields of defense and security continued to be strengthened; cooperation in education - training, science - technology achieved many positive results; and cooperation in culture, tourism and humanities was constantly expanded.
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| Scene of the talks between Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Hanoi on March 23. |
In 2019, Vietnam and Russia will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the signing of the treaty on the fundamental principles of Vietnam-Russia friendship. The two countries agreed to closely coordinate the Vietnam Year in Russia and the Russia Year in Vietnam.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Pham Binh Minh added that he and the Russian Foreign Minister also discussed many regional and international issues of mutual concern. The two sides agreed and hoped that Russia would continue to play an active role in maintaining peace and stability in the region, ensuring security, safety, freedom of navigation and aviation, respecting the legal diplomatic process, and peacefully resolving disputes in the East Sea in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The two countries will continue to coordinate at all multilateral forums.
On this occasion, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh congratulated Russia on successfully organizing the presidential election and President Putin receiving a very high number of votes and being re-elected as President of the Russian Federation.
Bring trade turnover to 10 billion USD
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| Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh signed the 2019-2020 Cooperation Plan. |
Regarding economy and trade, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Pham Binh Minh said that the two sides are effectively implementing free trade agreements between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union. In 2017, bilateral trade turnover continued to grow and reached 3.5 billion USD, up 31% compared to 2016.
“We are striving to bring the turnover to 10 billion USD by 2020,” said Mr. Pham Binh Minh.
For his part, Foreign Minister Lavrov said that Russia highly values the performance of the two countries' companies in the oil and gas sector, which is one of the key areas in bilateral relations. In addition, the two countries also discussed cooperation in the fields of peaceful nuclear energy, agriculture, labor, transportation, etc.
“Both sides encourage and support the expansion of direct contacts between businesses of the two countries. In this spirit, we look forward to welcoming delegations of Vietnamese businesses at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and the Eastern Economic Forum,” said Mr. Lavrov.
After the talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh signed the Cooperation Plan between the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the 2019-2020 period.
During his visit to Vietnam, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today also paid a courtesy visit to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Tran Dai Quang.