MOSCOW, December 3. /TASS/. Moscow has been and remains Hanoi’s reliable ally, Vietnamese Deputy Defense Minister Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh said at a meeting with Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu on Monday.
"We understand very well that Russia has been and will remain a close and reliable friend of Vietnam," he said. "Our goal is to take defense cooperation between our countries to a new level," the Vietnamese deputy defense minister added.
According to Nguyen Chi Vinh, he has come to Moscow "to express determination to specify previously made decisions to boost defense cooperation between Vietnam and Russia." The General also said that the regional and global situation was "very unstable."
Nguyen Chi Vinh also said that his Russian counterpart Colonel General Alexander Fomin and he had discussed "the right ways to assess the situation and strengthen relations between Vietnam and Russia."
The Vietnamese deputy defense minister was hopeful that Hanoi and Moscow would cooperate in resolving global issues by taking part in UN-sponsored peacekeeping missions, as well as in the area of military medicine.
In addition, he pointed out that in 2020, Vietnam would host the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit. He expressed hope that cooperation with Russia would help his country fulfill its duties as the event’s host in the best possible way.