Russian Ambassador to Việt Nam G. S. Bezdetko

The relationship between Russia and Việt Nam is a bond of friendship and trust, forged in the Vietnamese people’s struggle for freedom and independence, and has been tested by time, Russian Ambassador to Việt Nam G. S. Bezdetko said in an interview with the Vietnam News Agency on the occasion of the Lunar New Year 2024.

Looking back at 2023, Ambassador Bezdetko emphasised that despite many geo-political changes in the world, even tragedies, the Việt Nam-Russia relationship, founded by previous generations, remains stable and creates a foundation for the development of cooperation between the two countries in the new historical context. Cooperation between Russia and Việt Nam developed well based on its comprehensive strategic partnership. Political dialogues at high and top levels were maintained, along with the promotion of inter-parliamentary exchanges.

He said that in the past year, important events in the bilateral agenda took place, marking a start for more extensive cooperation activities in the coming time. Direct dialogues between the leaders of the two countries have contributed to boosting the implementation of many agreements, and creating new opportunities for win-win cooperation as well as solving pending problems.

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

He said that the two sides can cooperate 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.

Russia is willing to share research and development results with Vietnam, he affirmed.

Regarding cooperation opportunities to promote modern sports, the Ambassador said that Russia has recently launched an initiative to conduct competitions in the "phygital" format which combines both traditional and electronic sports.

He hoped that Việt Nam will participate in the International Multi-Sport Tournament Games of the Future that Russia will host in February and March this year in Kazan.

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

Last year, Russia organised cultural events in Việt Nam, the ambassador recalled, pointing out some prominent events including the Russian Cultural Days in Hà Nội and Hạ Long City in July, and the performance of the world-famous art troupe "Turetskiy Choir" in Việt Nam in November.

He said 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.

Besides, he assessed that Việt Nam's traditional culture and arts draw Russians' interest. Since the Soviet era, medium and short stories by well-known Vietnamese authors have been translated into Russian. Recently, "Truyện Kiều" (The Tale of Kiều) - a precious gem in Vietnamese literature - was published in Russian.

The Ambassador expected that this year, Việt Nam 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 Việt Nam since he was a university student, Ambassador Bezdetko said Việt Nam has become his second homeland where he explores its diversity and richness of its culture, national identity, friendliness and hospitality of the people.

On the occasion of the New Year 2024 and Vietnamese traditional Lunar New Year celebration, he wished Vietnamese people good health, peace and prosperity. He also wished that Russia-Việt Nam relations will continue to develop strongly. — VNS