President Sang welcomed the visit of the envoy in preparation for the upcoming official visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He expressed his pleasure at the robust development in the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries over the recent past.

President Sang said the two sides have teamed up to promote their cultural exchanges.

The two sides need to set up an annual plan to make their cooperation more practical, he said, adding that he agreed with the initiative to beef up cooperation in press between the two countries. He reiterated the effective cooperation between Viet Nam News Agency and Russia’s ITAR-TASS over the past time.

Shvydkoi expressed his pleasure to return and see Viet Nam’s dynamic development.

He said he believes that the Russian President’s upcoming visit will help boost cooperation ties between the two countries.

At the reception, representatives of Russian culture and press businesses and agencies to the Russian delegation expressed their wish to have more press cooperation opportunities between the countries to promote additional publications, which will help boost the two peoples’ mutual understanding and friendship.