(VGP -15/5/2013) - Vietnamese PM Nguyen Tan Dung on May 15 met with President of Russia Vladimir Putin in the Russian city of Sochi to exchanged views on the real situation and orientations for bilateral cooperation in order to develop the strategic partnership in a practical and effective manner.   

At the friendly, trust and totally-mutual understanding atmosphere, PM Dung informed President Vladimir Putin about the outcomes of the talks with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medveded.

Regarding politics–external relations cooperation, the two sides agreed to enhance relations of high trustworthiness through the exchange of delegations, especially those at the highest level.

The Vietnamese side highly valued Russian affirmation in its new foreign policy concept toward Viet Nam as a prioritized partner in the region and affirmed that Russia is Viet Nam’s important partner.

The PM also informed President Putin of the East Sea situation and pledged to create all possible favorable conditions for Russian oil and gas companies to expand operations in the continental shelf and offshore Vietnam in line with international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

President Putin said Russia attaches much importance to the maintenance of peace and stability in the East Sea and hopes relevant parties settle the East Sea disputes on the basis of international law.

In terms of economic cooperation, the two sides shared their opinions that two-way trade remains modest and unmatched with potentials. The signing of a free trade area agreement between Viet Nam and the Union of Customs will contribute to raising two-way trade to US$10 billion by 2020.

The two sides stressed that energy cooperation is one of top priorities between the two nations.

The Russian side will actively continue oil and gas exploitation activities in Viet Nam's continental shelf as well as encourage the two countries’ joint ventures to expand cooperation in Russia.

In the field of nuclear power, they agreed to closely work on building the Ninh Thuan 1 nuclear power plant as scheduled, based on the state-of-the-art technologies to ensure safety, quality and the best efficiency.

Speaking highly of military technology cooperation, the two sides committed to gradually strengthening the ties in a comprehensive manner, especially joint production and maintenance of weapons and armed materials to meet cooperation demand in the new situation.

Both leaders also reached a consensus on working closely in education –training, and science-technology.

After the meeting, Dung witnessed the signing of a cooperation agreement between the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group and Rosneft Corporation on searching, surveying and exploiting oil and gas in Russia, Viet Nam and the third countries.

The same day, PM Dung and his entourage left Sochi city for the Republic of Belarus, concluding their official tour to Russia at the invitation of Prime Minister Medvedev./.