Moscow (VNA) – A National Assembly (NA)delegation led by NA Vice Chairman Nguyen Khac Dinh attended the 10thNevsky International Ecological Congress in St. Petersburg in Russia, at theinvitation of the First Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council of FederalAssembly of Russia (upper house) Andrey Yatskin.

At a meeting on May 25 with Yatskin, who is also head of theRussian Federation Council’s group for cooperation with the NA of Vietnam, Dinhaffirmed that Vietnam always treasures the traditional friendship andcomprehensive strategic partnership with Russia, and remembers thepriceless support that the former Soviet Union and now Russia has given toVietnam.

Dinh, who is also Chairman of the Vietnam - RussiaFriendship Parliamentarians’ Group, pointed to a number of problems in theeconomic-trade partnership between the two countries, and asked Russia to supportthe upgrade and adjust the free trade agreement between Vietnam and the EurasianEconomic Union (EAEU) to benefit bilateral relations. Healso suggested that Russia create favourable conditions for the strengtheningof labour cooperation in areas of each other’s strengths and demands, andsimplify the visa-granting procedures for Vietnamese citizens.

The Vietnamese official expressed his hope that theparliament and government of Russia will continue to support Russian oil andgas firms to cooperate with Vietnam in oil and gas exploration and exploitationin the East Sea in line with international law.

Vietnam hopes that Russia will continue to support thecountry’s standpoint of settling East Sea issues through peaceful measureson the basis of international law, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea(UNCLOS) 1982, contributing to maintaining peace, stability and prosperity inthe region and the world, he said.

Dinh also highlighted the significance of parliamentarycooperation – an important pillar in the partnership between the two countries,stressing the need to strengthen parliamentary collaboration to support thepartnership between the two governments.

For his part, Yatskin said he sent the proposal on the cooperation plan for the 2023-2025 period between the Federation Council of Federal Assembly of Russia and the Vietnamese National Assembly via the diplomatic channel, and expected to receive the reply soon.

He said that he has regularly worked with leaders of St.Petersburg during the construction of President Ho Chi Minh’s statue in thecity as well as preparations for the inauguration of the statue on June 30 onthe occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Vietnamese leader’sfirst arrival in Petrograd of the former Soviet Union, which is St. Petersburgnow.

Earlier, the Vietnamese delegation had a meeting with ViceChairman of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg Nikolai Bondarenko whoexpressed delight at the diverse cooperation between the city and Vietnamas well as Vietnamese localities.

Dinh affirmed the significance of locality-to-locality cooperation between the two countries and expressed his hope that Russia and St.Petersburg will continue to give favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community towork and settle down in the city and make contributions to the development ofties between the two countries.

Also on May 25, the Vietnamese delegation attended theopening session of the 10th Nevsky International Ecological Congress.

Earlier on May 24, the delegation had a working session withthe Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg, and presented thelocal administration and Secondary School No.488 with many preciousdocuments about President Ho Chi Minh to exhibit at the Ho Chi Minh Museum inthe city./.