MOSCOW — Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn on Saturday visited the Embassy of Việt Nam in Russia where he met with the embassy staff, Vietnamese business leaders and representatives in the European country.
It formed part of his official visit to Russia from September 25-28 at the invitation of Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov.
Ambassador Đặng Minh Khôi briefed Sơn on the embassy’s recent activities and the situation of the Vietnamese people living in Russia at the time of COVID-19.
Minister Sơn informed the Vietnamese expats in Russia of Việt Nam’s socio-economic development and COVID-19 response efforts, saying the State and Party are taking “vaccine diplomacy” very seriously and his ministry is making all possible efforts to have as many as possible COVID-19 vaccine doses delivered to Việt Nam.
He also briefed them on the outcomes of President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc’s official visit to Cuba and his trip to New York for the General Debate of the UN General Assembly’s 76th session and sideline activities.
The minister emphasised that the Party and State attach great importance to the comprehensive strategic partnership between Việt Nam and Russia characterised by three main pillars – security-defence cooperation, energy and oil cooperation, and education and training cooperation. Despite challenges caused by COVID-19, the two countries have maintained high-level meetings and phone talks, he said.
He appreciated the Embassy of Việt Nam in Russia for its active efforts to negotiate with Russian partners for the production of Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in Việt Nam. He also highly spoke of the Vietnamese expats’ contribution to Việt Nam’s COVID-19 control fund, saying they serve as a bridge to boost trade and ties between the two countries.
The minister also received US$135,000 in cash donated from the Vietnamese Association in Russia to Việt Nam’s COVID-19 response. — VNS