HANOI, February 25. /TASS/. Vietnam-Russia cooperation serves as an example of healthy international relations based on time-tested ties, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh told TASS news agency Director General Andrey Kondrashov, now on a working visit to Vietnam at the invitation of the Vietnam News Agency (VNA).

Pham Minh Chinh said that Vietnam "consistently attaches great importance and strives for a steady development of traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership with the Russian Federation in all areas in the interests of the two peoples for the sake of stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world. In the new era, Vietnamese-Russian cooperation should not only benefit the development of the two countries, but also serve as a model of healthy international relations based on time-tested ties."

Saying that Vietnam will never forget the help of the Soviet Union and Russia in the struggle for national independence, construction and development of the country, Pham Minh Chinh said that his country "always stands by the Russian Federation under any circumstances. The feelings of the Vietnamese people towards the Russian Federation and Russians towards Vietnam are an invaluable asset that current generations must continue to strengthen."

He suggested that VNA and TASS, the two leading news agencies of Vietnam and Russia, should more actively highlight the traditions of good relations between the two countries, organize events and forums to expand exchanges and training of youth and young journalists, promoting joint efforts to strengthen solidarity and friendship between the peoples of the two countries.

Thanking the prime minister for his attention to cooperation between TASS and VNA, Kondrashov said that during the current visit, the agencies signed an updated cooperation agreement focusing on digital transformation, information exchange, professional exchanges, training, countering fake news and other areas. The new agreement, he said, provides for both the traditional exchange of information and delegations, and the most advanced areas of information work, including comprehensive cooperation in countering disinformation.

TASS and VNA will exchange best practices of detecting and countering disinformation both on a bilateral basis and within the framework of relevant international organizations.

"Our news agencies will closely coordinate their actions, contributing to the preservation, strengthening and deepening of traditional friendly relations and comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and the Russian Federation at a new stage," Kondrashov concluded.