HANOI, August 4. /TASS/: Vietnam attaches great importance to military cooperation with Russia and wants to develop it further, Defense Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Army General Phan Van Giang said while receiving newly appointed Russian Ambassador to Vietnam Gennady Bezdetko on Wednesday.
"The Vietnamese people and the People’s Army of Vietnam always value the long-standing traditional friendship, big and effective aid, which the people of Russia has provided to Vietnam," the defense chief said.
The relations in the defense sphere play a key role in developing comprehensive strategic partnership between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and Russia, he stressed.
The defense ministries of both countries are full of the resolve to effectively implement the approved plan of cooperation for 2021, which will contribute to further strengthening bilateral military and technical cooperation, Phan Van Giang pointed out.
In his speech, the Russian ambassador assured the Vietnamese defense minister that he would do his utmost to contribute to developing comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, including the relations in the defense sphere and military-technical cooperation.
Russia has been Vietnam’s traditional partner in the military sphere and the basic supplier of weapons and military hardware for many years. Both sides have signed a host of large-scale contracts in recent years on the delivery of Russian military hardware to Vietnam. The Vietnamese Army operates the latest Russian weapon systems, including combat planes, warships, small arms and special equipment.
