Writing a new chapter of cooperation
in Viet Nam–Russia relations

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Central Committee and President of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam To Lam, his spouse, and a high-level Vietnamese delegation have successfully concluded a state visit to the Russian Federation at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The visit sent a strong message that Viet Nam continues to attach importance to its traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership with the Russian Federation, reaffirming its desire to strengthen bilateral cooperation in a new era of development. The visit was of historic significance and opened a new chapter in Viet Nam–Russia relations, while also making a positive contribution to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the world.

This was the first state visit to the Russian Federation by the head of the Party and State of Viet Nam since 1991. It also took place following the success of the 14th National Party Congress and the consolidation of leadership positions after the elections for the 16th National Assembly and People's Councils at all levels for the 2026–2031 term.

Efforts to diversify areas of cooperation

Russian leaders and people extended a warm, respectful, and cordial welcome to General Secretary and President To Lam, his spouse, and the high-level Vietnamese delegation. At the Kremlin, following a solemn state-level welcoming ceremony, General Secretary and President To Lam held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In an atmosphere of friendship, sincerity, trust, and mutual understanding, General Secretary and President To Lam and Russian President Vladimir Putin briefed each other on the situation in their respective countries and held extensive discussions on bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues of shared concern. The two leaders welcomed the continued positive development of Viet Nam–Russia traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership, the steady strengthening of political trust, and the regular maintenance of exchanges of delegations and high-level and other-level contacts. Cooperation in such areas as economic and trade relations, investment, energy and oil and gas, defence and security, science and technology, education and training, culture, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges has also achieved positive results.

The two sides exchanged views and reached agreement on major orientations for developing and further deepening bilateral relations in the new period. The two leaders agreed to strengthen regular and substantive exchanges at all levels, particularly at the highest level, and to step up cooperation through the Party and parliamentary channels of the two countries.

The two sides agreed to implement strong measures to enable economic cooperation to play a pioneering role in bringing Viet Nam-Russia relations towards more substantive development; to attach greater importance to enhancing the role of the Intergovernmental Committee on Economic, Trade, Scientific and Technical Cooperation; and to strive to raise bilateral trade value to 15 billion USD in the near future.

The two leaders agreed to encourage the two countries’ businesses to strengthen connectivity, expand investment, establish new production and supply chains and explore new areas with significant potential.

The two leaders affirmed that energy, oil and gas would continue to be important pillars of the Viet Nam-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership, while cooperation would be expanded into new energy fields such as nuclear power, wind power and gas-fired power.

The two sides agreed to continue consolidating the strategic pillar of defence, security and military-technical cooperation; to coordinate efforts to respond to non-traditional security challenges; to prevent and combat transnational and high-tech crime; and to address emergency situations.

The two leaders affirmed that education and training, and people-to-people exchanges hold special significance for preserving and promoting the traditional friendship between Viet Nam and Russia. They agreed to strengthen the training of high-quality human resources and expand linkages between universities and research institutions.

General Secretary and President To Lam thanked the Russian central government and local authorities for creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community to live, study and work stably in Russia. He proposed that favourable conditions continue to be created to enable the Vietnamese community to integrate well, make positive contributions to Russia’s development and serve as a bridge of friendship between the two countries.

Discussing regional and international issues, the two leaders affirmed the importance of maintaining international peace, security and stability; jointly promoting multilateralism; and upholding the role of the United Nations, the UN Charter and the fundamental principles of international law. Viet Nam supports stronger relations between Russia and ASEAN for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

On the occasion of General Secretary and President To Lam’s state visit to Russia, the two sides issued a joint statement on further strengthening the Viet Nam-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership in the new period. 

The joint statement stated that the talks and meetings took place in an atmosphere of traditional friendship, sincerity and trust inherent in the relations between the two countries.

The leaders of Viet Nam and Russia held extensive exchanges of views on the status and prospects of Viet Nam-Russia relations, and agreed on measures to further promote the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

According to the joint statement, the two sides affirmed that the traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership between Viet Nam and Russia have withstood the test of time and the changes of the era, constituting an invaluable asset of the two peoples; the consolidation and development of bilateral relations remain a long-term strategic choice and one of the top priorities in each country’s foreign policy.

Building upon past achievements, and seeking to harness existing potential and rich experience of cooperation across multiple fields, Viet Nam and Russia will continue their efforts to strengthen and diversify areas of cooperation for the benefit of both peoples, and for peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region and the world.

Viet Nam continues to contribute to peace, stability and development

Within the framework of the state visit to Russia, General Secretary and President To Lam, accompanied by his spouse and the high-level Vietnamese delegation, attended the award ceremony for the 2026 Lev Tolstoy International Peace Prize at the Kremlin in Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke highly of the decision by the Lev Tolstoy International Peace Prize Council to present this year’s award to Vietnamese leader To Lam.

The Russian President described General Secretary and President To Lam as a respected and visionary political figure and a true patriot who has chosen the path of devoted service to the Fatherland and the protection of national interests. As the country’s top leader, General Secretary and President To Lam has pursued prudent and fundamental domestic and foreign policies, helping to consolidate an independent, sovereign, stable and secure Viet Nam in Asia and globally, the host said.

In a solemn and friendly atmosphere, Valery Gergiev, Chairman of the Prize Council, presented the 2026 Lev Tolstoy International Peace Prize to General Secretary and President To Lam, in recognition of his great contributions to the cause of consolidating peace, strengthening cooperation and understanding among peoples; his contributions to promoting justice and respect for international law, while spreading to the world the peaceful tradition, humanitarian spirit and culture of dialogue of Viet Nam and its people.

Graciously accepting the Prize named after the great writer Lev Tolstoy, General Secretary and President To Lam affirmed that this was not only recognition of his personal contributions as General Secretary and President, but also reflected appreciation for the Vietnamese people's tradition of loving peace, the country's foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, as well as Viet Nam's active and responsible contributions to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

Viet Nam will continue to work together with the international community to strive to promote dialogue, strengthen understanding and trust, and resolve differences and disputes through peaceful means on the basis of the United Nations Charter and international law, for a peaceful, stable and sustainably developing world.

Attending the Viet Nam-Russian Federation Science and Technology Forum themed “Connecting Strategic Technologies”, General Secretary and President To Lam said that the forum was being held at a time when Viet Nam was entering a new stage of development, with the aspiration to build a peaceful, independent, democratic, prosperous, strong, civilised and happy country; striving to become a developing country with modern industry and upper-middle income by 2030, and a developed, high-income country by 2045.

Viet Nam-Russian Federation relations have stood the test of many decades. Science, technology and education are fields that have laid a particularly important foundation for those relations. Tens of thousands of Vietnamese officials and experts have been trained in the former Soviet Union and the Russian Federation today, many of whom have become scientists, experts and leaders, making important contributions to the cause of building and developing Viet Nam.

Proposing that Viet Nam-Russian Federation science and technology cooperation in the coming period should adopt new thinking, new approaches and higher goals, General Secretary and President To Lam made clear that cooperation should not stop at the exchange of experts and training of officials, but should aim for jointly mastering technologies, jointly creating products and jointly participating in the market.

The two countries will focus on major orientations, including identifying the development of cooperation in strategic technologies as a new pillar of the Viet Nam-Russia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership; selecting a number of truly strategic fields, combining the Russian Federation's strengths in science and technology with Viet Nam's development needs, human resources and market, such as nuclear energy, new energy, space and satellite technology, semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum technology and artificial intelligence; and prioritising fields capable of creating new technological capabilities and directly contributing to socio-economic development, ensuring security and safety, and enhancing each country's technological autonomy.

General Secretary and President To Lam proposed that the two sides create favourable conditions for scientists and enterprises of the two countries to meet, exchange and cooperate, while investing substantially in the next generation of young Vietnamese-Russian scientists and experts. The two sides should expand training programmes in strategic technology fields, strengthen exchanges of young scientists, postgraduates and engineers, and create conditions for young research groups from the two countries to jointly carry out science and technology tasks.

With the foundation of traditional friendship, high political trust, the Russian Federation’s science and technology potential, and Viet Nam’s determination for strong renewal and development, cooperation in science, technology and innovation can fully become a new driver, a new pillar and a new symbol of Viet Nam-Russia relations in the 21st century.

Within the framework of the visit, General Secretary and President To Lam also received leaders of several enterprises and universities in the Russian Federation, and attended the opening programme of the Viet Nam-Russia Heritage and Cultural Connectivity Space.

General Secretary and President To Lam’s state visit to Russia attracted special attention and received highly positive assessments from international media agencies and analysts.

According to the VNA, Giulio Chinappi, a political analyst at the Center for Mediterranean-Eurasian Studies (CeSEM), said that from a long-term perspective, the most strategic breakthrough of the visit was the determination to elevate cooperation in strategic technologies, science, innovation and digital transformation into a new pillar of bilateral relations. In the short and medium term, energy cooperation continues to be the area delivering the most substantive and immediate results. Alongside the traditional oil and gas sector, the two sides are expanding cooperation into nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, gas-fired power and offshore wind power.

Russian newspapers and television channels all focused on reporting on General Secretary and President To Lam’s visit to Russia, giving positive assessments of the visit and emphasising the significance of the two countries’ continued consolidation of relations in the new stage of development. Izvestia (iz.ru) published an article assessing that General Secretary and President To Lam’s visit would go down in history, saying that as Viet Nam enters a “new era” with major goals in modernisation and technological development, the visit shows that Viet Nam continues to attach importance to relations with Russia.

The state visit to Russia by General Secretary and President To Lam, his spouse and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation was a great success and an important diplomatic milestone, affirming Viet Nam’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, resilience, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, as well as multilateralisation and diversification of external relations. It was also an opportunity to further strengthen relations between General Secretary and President To Lam and leaders of the Russian Federation.

With substantive and breakthrough results, the visit helped strongly consolidate political trust and create fresh impetus for the Viet Nam-Russia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership to continue being strengthened, bringing practical benefits to the people of the two countries and contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.