At the dialogue, Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien expressed sincere thanks to Senior Lieutenant General Alexander Vasilyevich Fomin and the Russian Ministry of Defence delegation for attending the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and Vietnam's National Day (September 2) and co-chairing the 8th Strategic Defence Dialogue at the deputy ministerial level.

He affirmed that the presence of the Russian delegation and Russian military personnel participating in the parade underscored the pivotal role of defence cooperation in the overall traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Russia, contributing to the success of this important political event.

Chien also affirmed that the people and the Vietnam People’s Army always remember and appreciate the immense, sincere, and devoted support of the former Soviet Union and the Russian Federation today in the struggle for national independence and unification, as well as in the current efforts to build and defend the country. He expressed the desire to contribute to further deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership for the benefit of both countries and for peace, cooperation, and development in the region and the world as a whole.

Emphasizing the Vietnam Ministry of National Defence’s construction of a monument honoring Soviet military experts who once assisted Vietnam in the struggle for national independence at the Vietnam Military History Museum as a clear testament to the close and positive relations between the two countries and their armed forces, Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien expressed confidence that, together with the Memorial to Soviet and Vietnamese soldiers who sacrificed their lives in Cam Ranh, Khanh Hoa province and the monument to Vietnamese international volunteer soldiers who fought to defend Moscow during the Great Patriotic War in Moscow, the monument to Soviet military experts in Hanoi will further deepen the traditional friendship and relations between both nations.

Both sides exchanged views on global and regional situation and issues of mutual concern. Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien affirmed that Vietnam’s consistent pursuit of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendliness, cooperation, and development in its foreign policy, along with the diversification and multilateralization of its international relations; it is ready to cooperate with other countries and international organizations for peace, cooperation, and development in the region and the world; and remains steadfast in its “four no’s” defence policy: not participating in military alliances, not aligning with one country to oppose another, not allowing foreign military bases or the use of Vietnamese territory to oppose other countries, and not using force or threatening to use force in international relations.

Regarding the East Sea (South China Sea) issue, Vietnam’s consistent stance is to persist in resolving all disputes and disagreements by peaceful means based on international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS); international and regional commitments such as the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC); and to support the early, substantive, and effective conclusion of the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien expressed his elation to see that Vietnam–Russian Federation defence cooperation has been actively and effectively implemented by both sides, achieving significant results, notably in areas such as exchanges of delegations at all levels, particularly high-level one; training; cooperation among services, branches, agencies, units, academies, and schools of the two Ministries of Defence; and maintaining effective coordination and consultation within international multilateral defence mechanisms and forums, especially those led by ASEAN. Vietnam supports activities led by the Russian Federation and Laos within the framework of the ADMM+ Expert Group on Humanitarian Mine Action for the 2024–2027 cycle.

Both sides also agreed that scientific research cooperation within the framework of the Vietnam–Russia Tropical Centre is of great significance and continues to symbolize the traditional cooperation between the two states; they also concurred on effectively realizing the contents of the annual cooperation plan as well as the long-term cooperation program.

Looking ahead, both sides consented to propose that their respective agencies actively and effectively implement the signed cooperation documents, focusing on areas such as exchanges of delegations at all levels; promoting training cooperation; stepping up cooperation among services and branches, as well as among agencies, units, academies, and schools; sharing professional experience and expertise; military medicine; scientific research cooperation within the framework of the Vietnam–Russia Tropical Centre; and maintaining coordination and consultation within international multilateral defence mechanisms and forums, especially those led by ASEAN.

Concurring with Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien’s assessments of the global and regional situation, the Russian defence leader emphasized that over the years, the relationship between Vietnam and the Russian Federation has formed a strong bond. Built on a foundation of traditional friendship, mutual trust between the two countries has steadily increased, and defence cooperation has received growing attention, becoming a pillar of bilateral relations, particularly in areas such as delegation exchanges, training, cooperation among military services and branches, and collaboration with the Vietnam–Russia Tropical Centre.

Vasilyevich Fomin expressed confidence that the success of the 8th Vietnam-Russia Strategic Defence Dialogue will help outline orientations for bilateral defence cooperation to develop sustainably, effectively, and practically in the future.

Concluding the dialogue, both sides signed the minutes of the event. On this occasion, on behalf of the President of Vietnam, Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien presented the Friendship Order to Senior Lieutenant General Alexander Vasilyevich Fomin for his considerable contributions to boosting defence cooperation and the development of the traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

Vietnamese, Russian Deputy PMs discuss economic, technical ties

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, head of the Vietnamese sub-committee of the Vietnam – Russia Intergovernmental Committee for economic – trade and scientific – technical cooperation, and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Chernyshenko, head of the Russian sub-committee, talked over the phone on August 22.