Hanoi (VNA)- Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh joined other ASEAN foreign ministers and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the Special ASEAN-RussiaForeign Ministers Meeting on COVID-19 on June 17.

The ministers affirmedtheir commitment to expanding cooperation to strengthen capacity in preparing, detecting,and responding to diseases, in line with International Health Regulations 2005.

They welcomed theestablishment of the ASEAN Fund for COVID-19 Response and the stockpile of medicalsupplies in the region, and hoped that Russia would assist in achieving common goalsthrough mobilising and utilising resources from the ASEAN-Russia Dialogue PartnershipFinancial Fund.

In particular, ministersemphasised the need to strengthen cooperation to quickly produce vaccines and drugsto fight the coronavirus. They agreed to support and facilitate the return of eachother’s citizens home if necessary and to ensure their safety while living, working,or studying in their host countries.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov spoke highly of ASEAN’s efforts in coping with COVID-19 and addedthat Russia is willing to share its experience with ASEAN and coordinate with thebloc to soon find vaccines and medicines as well as to support ASEAN to improveits health capacity.

Minh shared the COVID-19situation in Vietnam with the others in attendance, confirming that the countryhas had no new cases of community transmission for many days in succession thanksto the effective measures the Vietnamese Government is implementing.

He said Vietnam isstill taking a number of measures to prevent the spread of the virus and at thesame time revive its economy.

He asked Russia tocooperate with ASEAN in curbing the virus and treating infectious cases, while payingattention to ensuring the rights and equal treatment of citizens from ASEAN in Russiaand promoting cooperation to minimise the socio-economic impact of the pandemic.

Vietnam will strengthencoordination with other countries, including Russia, the World Health Organisation(WHO), and the international community to control and repel the virus, Minh affirmed.

The official called on countries,especially Russia and those in ASEAN, to strengthen collaboration and seek to co-existwith the risks COVID-19 poses.

He also underlinedorientations for ASEAN-Russia cooperation in responding to medical emergencies:enhancing information exchange, sharing experiences and practical lessons, closelyworking on the research and development of vaccines and antiviral drugs, recoveringsocio-economic activities to a normal state and ensuring sustainable growth, strengtheningregional rules-based, open, and transparent mechanisms, maintaining multilateralcommitments, and promoting dialogue and cooperation in response to new challenges./.