MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS/. Russia will continue teaching Vietnamese students in Russian universities at the expense of its budget and will help launch joint academic projects, President Vladimir Putin said in an article for the Nhan Dan newspaper published on the occasion of his visit to Vietnam.

"I certainly cannot but mention the long-standing traditions of bilateral cooperation in education. Over the past decades, tens of thousands of Vietnamese specialists in various fields have received training or upgraded their skills in our country, and several thousand have obtained academic degrees," the head of state wrote.

"We intend to further prioritize partnership in this area. This includes further offering education opportunities at Russian universities to Vietnamese citizens at the expense of the federal budget," Putin said. "We will do our best to promote student exchanges, launch joint academic projects and programmes," the Russian president promised.