Kazan (VNA) - ♒Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the expanded BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, on October 24 evening (local time).

President Putin expressed his appreciation for the warm reception offered by the Party, State, and people of Vietnam during his state visit to the Southeast Asian nation in June 2024, noting this reflected the strong and faithful bond between the two countries. The Russian leader asked PM Chinh to convey his regards to Party General Secretary To Lam and other senior leaders of Vietnam, and extended his congratulations to comrade Luong Cuong on his election as State President of Vietnam. The President thanked the Vietnamese government and PM Chinh personally for their attention and decisive leadership in implementing agreements reached between the two countries, as well as for seeking solutions to resolve certain difficulties and bottlenecks in bilateral cooperation. For his part, PM Chinh affirmed that the Party and State of Vietnam always treasure the Comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia, and wish to further deepen and strengthen the bilateral cooperation in all areas, in line with the interests of both nations and the aspirations of their people. He congratulated Russia on its socio-economic development achievements in recent years under the leadership of President Putin, emphasising that these successes have continued to affirm the characters and culture of Russia and its people who remain unyielding in the face of challenges and difficulties. PM Chinh took this occasion to convey the regards of Party General Secretary To Lam, State President Luong Cuong and National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man to the Russian leader. He also congratulated President Putin on successfully presiding over the BRICS Summit and the expanded BRICS Summit, as well as all BRICS activities in 2024 in a bid to "build a better world." The two leaders noted with satisfaction that the Vietnam-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership has been continuously strengthened and developed both intensively and extensively in recent times as all-level visits, meetings, and exchanges have taken place actively while bilateral trade has witnessed strong growth. However, the two leaders agreed that these results have not yet met the set goals, and required closer coordination to effectively implement cooperation, particularly in terms economy, trade, investment, and tourism. They underlined the need to expand cooperation into new areas such as renewable energy and infrastructure. President Putin praised the successful organisation of the 25th meeting of the Vietnam-Russia Intergovernmental Committee for Economic-Trade and Scientific-Technological Cooperation, urging the two sides to effectively implement the minutes of the session. PM Chinh stated that Vietnam is willing to create favourable conditions for Russian enterprises interested in investing in the Vietnamese market. He also called on President Putin to pay attention and direct the Russian government’s collaboration with Vietnam to deploy cooperation in all areas, ensuring harmonious interests of both sides. The two leaders emphasised the importance of energy and oil-gas cooperation, which is one of the pillars of the Vietnam-Russia relations. They acknowledged the impressive results in this crucial area of cooperation and agreed to continue encouraging and facilitating the expansion of activities by Vietnamese and Russian oil and gas enterprises. The two sides showed their desire to further promote energy cooperation projects that meet the development demand of each country and align with current trends of green growth and sustainable development. In the immediate term, they agreed to intensify cooperation in technology transfer, training human resources, and building a team of experts for Vietnam. They also discussed specific orientations and measures to improve the effectiveness of cooperation in other areas where the two countries have great potential and opportunities, such as science - technology, education - training, tourism, and transport. The leaders agreed to collaborate in preparing for activities to celebrate the 75th founding anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2025. PM Chinh suggested Russia to continue creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Russia to live, work, and study stably in the country, enabling them to act friendship bridges between the two nations. On this occasion, the Russia side announced that it will maintain 1,000 scholarships for Vietnamese students studying in Russia. The two leaders welcomed and acknowledged the signing and exchange of cooperation documents by agencies and enterprises of the two countries during PM Chinh's trip to Kazan. This was the last activity of PM Chinh during his trip to Kazan to attend the expanded BRICS Summit. In the early morning of October 25, the PM and the Vietnamese high-level delegation left Kazan for Hanoi, successfully concluding their working trip./.