Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov, Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov, Minister of Energy Sergei Tsivilev, and Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachev also took part in the talks on the Russian side.
* * *
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Comrade Pham Minh Chinh, friends,
I am delighted to welcome you to Moscow, to the Kremlin.
First, allow me to congratulate you once again, along with all our Vietnamese friends, on the success of the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam. This event is of great importance for your country, and we have been following it with close attention.
Please convey my greetings to Comrade General Secretary To Lam. We have developed positive and friendly relations both on a professional and personal level. Once again, let me stress that we would be glad to receive him in Russia at any time he finds convenient.
Vietnam has been and remains our reliable partner and friend. Our relations, as we often emphasise, have stood the test of time.
I know that you have a packed agenda for this visit. You have already met with Russia’s Prime Minister, Mr Mishustin, and the speakers of both chambers of parliament (Valentina Matviyenko and Vyacheslav Volodin], as well as Secretary of the Security Council [Sergei Shoigu].
An agreement to build Vietnam’s first nuclear power plant has been signed. Trade has been following an upward trajectory in 2026, having increased by 5.6 percent since the beginning of the year. Today, we will discuss all aspects of our relations, considering their breadth.
I would like to stress that we are always delighted to see our Vietnamese friends in Russia whenever they come here.
Pham Minh Chinh (retranslated): Comrade Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, comrades,
First of all, allow me to express my gratitude for your remarks, for the exceptionally heartfelt and warm attitude towards Vietnam, and for the special regard – your personal regard – for Vietnam.
I am very pleased to meet you after our three previous meetings in Hanoi, Kazan, and China, this time in Moscow, at the heart of Russia’s capital. Today, the weather has also favoured us. Together with all the comrades from the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, I have personally felt the warmth and hospitality extended by the President and the leadership of the Russian Federation towards our delegation.
On this occasion, allow me to convey greetings and best wishes from our General Secretary To Lam, President Luong Cuong, and other senior leaders of Vietnam, and to invite you to visit Vietnam this year, in 2026.
Vietnam always remembers and is grateful to the Russian Federation for the sincere sentiments and support – the steadfast, devoted, and invaluable support – provided by Russia’s leadership and its people to Vietnam in resisting the American aggressors and in our nation-building efforts today
The years of companionship and cooperation between the peoples of our two countries have left an indelible mark and have become an emblem of the traditional, invaluable friendship between our peoples, serving as inspiration for future generations today and in the years to come in the history of our nations, especially under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin, a longstanding friend of Vietnam, a loyal comrade who is very close to the leadership and people of Vietnam, who has always harboured special feelings for our people and has actively contributed to the architecture of a comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Russia, with a vision spanning 100 years ahead.
Over the 76 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the Russian Federation, you, Comrade Vladimir Putin, have been the senior-most official, holding this position for one-third of that time – for 27 years. You are the first senior leader of Russia to visit Vietnam – in 2001 – and the highest-ranking leader to visit our country the most – five times, with many more visits to come.
In 2001, you laid the foundation for our states to establish a strategic partnership and to elevate these relations to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2012, as well as to redefine the relationship for a new era of historically significant milestones in the 21st century.
I would also like to congratulate the Russian Federation: Over your 27 years in office, Russia has transformed itself from the instability and economic weakness of the 1990s into one of the world’s four largest economies in terms of purchasing power parity. Today, the standard of living has risen significantly – there is a sense of solidarity, common goals, and common ideals, and the importance of culture has also grown much stronger.
The Russian Federation now plays a very important role, and its place in the international system and on the global agenda is becoming increasingly significant by the day. We can say with pride that Russia is growing stronger amid the current complex international situation. Comrade President, I wish to congratulate you and everyone, the entire Russian Federation on this.
Whenever we meet, we always have much to share – so many issues worth discussing, which is why our meetings tend to run long.
I would like to say that unity brings strength, cooperation brings benefits, and dialogue builds trust. Today, in the face of a complex and rapidly changing global landscape, I am looking forward to a very direct, practical, sincere, open, and productive exchange of views with you in order to identify areas for long-term, mutually beneficial cooperation, add detail to that cooperation, as agreed between General Secretary To Lam and yourself, so as to reframe and elevate our relations across all areas – in depth, in practice, and to good effect, serving the interests of both countries in this new era, and contributing to peace and stability in the region and the world.
I would now like to hear your views, Comrade President.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you very much for your very kind words about us, about Russia.
I will certainly accept your invitation to visit Vietnam. We always have a special feeling when we go there, and we sense the same warmth from the Vietnamese towards us, Russians. We always come to a country where we feel truly welcome, and that never goes unnoticed.
And of course, our dialogue is always exceptionally sincere and built on deep trust, like that between close friends. Today, too, we will discuss all matters of mutual interest in that same spirit.