Russian Ambassador highlights time-honoured relations with Vietnam

Looking back at the past year, the Russian diplomat said that that despite many geo-political changes in the world, even tragedies, the mutual relationship, which was founded by previous generations, remained stable and created a foundation for the further development of ties between the two nations in new historical conditions. 

Co-operation between both sides has grown steadily based on its comprehensive strategic partnership whilst political dialogues at high and top levels have been maintained, along with the promotion of inter-parliamentary exchanges.

During the past year, important events in the bilateral agenda have taken place, marking a start for more extensive collaboration activities. Indeed, direct dialogues between both nations’ leaders have contributed to further boosting the implementation of many agreements and creating new opportunities for win-win co-operation, as well as solving pending problems, he went on to say.

There are positive signs in terms of bilateral trade, he said, expressing his expectations that direct flights between the two countries will soon be resumed in the near future.

He therefore suggested that the two sides should work together more deeply not, only in traditional fields, but also in innovative fields such as high technology, artificial intelligence (AI), renewable energy sources, e-government systems, and information security.

Ambassador Bezdetko affirmed the Russian side’s willingness to share research and development results with Vietnam.

With regard to co-operation opportunities aimed at enhancing modern sports, the diplomat said that Russia has recently launched an initiative to conduct competitions in the "phygital" format which combines both traditional and electronic sports.

He expressed hope that Vietnam will engage in the International Multi-Sport Tournament Games of the Future which Russia will host in February and March this year in Kazan.

Concerning collaboration in culture, Ambassador Bezdetko stressed that promoting cultural exchange is an important factor to further deepen the relations between the two nations. Research and promotion of languages, history, culture, traditional art genres, cinema, and cuisine are further contributing to strengthening mutual understanding and making the peoples in different countries come closer to each other.

Last year saw Russia launch a broad array of cultural events in the nation, the Ambassador recalled, pointing out several prominent events including the Russian Cultural Days in Hanoi and Ha Long city in July, as well as the performance of the world-famous art troupe "Turetskiy Choir" in Vietnam in November.

He said that Russia will continue to introduce to Vietnamese audiences works of famous Russian poets and writers such as A.S. Pushkin, M.Yu. Lermontov, A.P. Chekhov, L.N. Tolstoi, music composers like P.I. Chaikovskiy, M.I. Glinka, D.D. Shostakovich, and contemporary Russian directors.

Furthermore, he assessed that traditional Vietnamese culture and arts tends to draw interest from Russians. Since the Soviet era, medium and short stories by well-known Vietnamese authors have been translated into Russian. Recently, "Truyen Kieu" (Kieu Tale), a precious gem of Vietnamese literature, was published in Russian.

The diplomat anticipates that this year, Vietnam will participate in the second International Music Festival "Cosmic Sounds" and the Melikhovo Spring Theatre Festival organised in Russia.

As a person who has been attached to and learned about Vietnam since he was a university student, Ambassador Bezdetko said the country has become his second homeland where he explores its diversity and richness of its culture, national identity, friendliness, and hospitality of the local people.

On the occasion of the New Year 2024 and the traditional Vietnamese Lunar New Year celebrations, he wished Vietnamese people good health, peace, and prosperity. He also wished that Russia-Vietnam relations will continue to grow and flourish in the coming time.