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Vietnam ready to back Russia in cooperation with ASEAN — ambassador

According to the diplomat, Vietnam "has always stood for Russia’s more active role in the region and supported its participation in all key ASEAN mechanisms"

MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/. Vietnam is ready to back Russia in further deepening of its cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Nguyen Thanh Son told TASS ahead of the Russia-ASEAN summit due to be held in Sochi on May 19-20.

"Since Russia became a full-fledged dialogue partner of ASEAN in 1996 the cooperation between Vietnam and Russia regarding the Association has been developing positively," the ambassador said, adding that Vietnam "has always stood for Russia’s more active role in the region and supported its participation in all key ASEAN mechanisms such as the East Asia Summit (EAS), the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)."

The second Russia-ASEAN summit that took place in Hanoi in 2010 resulted in reaching a joint agreement by the two countries’ leaders, triggering the development of cooperation between Vietnam and Russia, Nguyen Thanh Son said. "Vietnam gives a high rating to Russia’s increasingly active participation in regional mechanisms of the Association over the last years and hopes that Russia will contribute even more in ensuring the region's sustainable development and stability," he added.

"All in all, the cooperation between Vietnam and Russia regarding ASEAN has been fruitful recently," the ambassador said, adding though that much can still be done, "particularly in the areas of trade and investment." "In this respect, Vietnam is ready to fully support Russia in further deepening of cooperation with ASEAN," he said.

The Russia-ASEAN summit is expected to become the biggest international event in Russia in 2016. It will be held under the slogan "Towards Strategic Partnership for the Sake of the Common Good."

The summit is expected to adopt a declaration that will lay the basis for an action plan of Russia-ASEAN cooperation in the political, economic and cultural spheres, as well as in the sphere of security.