Le Hoai Trung has arrived in Moscow as a special envoy of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Deputy Prime Minister and Co-Chair of the Russian-Vietnamese Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation Dmitry Chernyshenko, and Aide to the President Yury Ushakov were among Russian representatives during the meeting.
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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, friends.
Comrade Le Hoai Trung, we are delighted to see you in Moscow.
First of all, congratulations on the traditional Vietnamese holiday, the Lunar New Year. Please pass my warm wishes to the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and congratulations and best wishes to all Vietnamese comrades, the entire leadership and the entire nation of Vietnam.
During my recent telephone conversation with comrade To Lam, I had the pleasure of congratulating him on his reelection to the post of the General Secretary of the 14th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
We can see that the Vietnamese people support the work of the Vietnamese leadership and the General Secretary. We are happy for you and glad to see your success.
Our bilateral relations are following a positive trajectory, with growing trade and constructive and open dialogue across all fields, including politics.
Mr Minister, I know that you have a busy schedule today. I am sure this visit will be quite productive.
Once again, welcome!
Foreign Minister of Vietnam Le Hoai Trung (retranslated): Mr President, thank you very much for receiving me despite your busy schedule.
General Secretary To Lam sent me here as his special envoy to inform you about the outcomes of the 14th Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam. I also want to extend warm greetings from General Secretary To Lam and express immense gratitude on behalf of the Central Committee and General Secretary To Lam personally for your greetings in messages and congratulations during your telephone conversation with the General Secretary. You were the first foreign leader to have a telephone conversation with our General Secretary.
It is the first time that the Political Bureau and the General Secretary have sent a special envoy to the Russian Federation to inform you about the outcomes of the 14th Party Congress. This indicates special attention to our traditionally friendly and close relations and to the relations between our parties, states and personally between the leaders of our countries.
Our General Secretary and party also congratulate the Russian Federation on the success achieved under your personal leadership, Mr President, and on Russia overcoming all the challenges and achieving high results in its socioeconomic development, national security, and claiming an important position on the international stage, as well as on successful scientific and technological progress.
Thank you for the greetings on our traditional holiday. We also wish you a happy New Year and Defender of the Fatherland Day. I know that yesterday, you delivered an address highlighting Russia’s strengthening and progress.
Our party and state highly value our bilateral relations, and their steady development is very important to us. Our countries enjoy strong political trust, and our relations are developing across all fields.
The top leaders of Vietnam and General Secretary To Lam personally show extremely high regard for this bilateral relationship and wish to elevate it to a higher level.
The party, the state and the Vietnamese nation respect and always remember the precious assistance that the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation and you personally, President Putin, provided to us in building, protecting and developing our nation. Vietnam has always prioritised its relationship with Russia, considering it strategic and long-term.
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