Vietnam – Russia relations: Friendship across the centuries

After more than 7 decades of cooperation, the Vietnam – Russia friendship relationship has been maintained and increasingly developed in many fields.

General Secretary and President To Lam and his wife arrived at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow on September 7, starting a state visit to Russia at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin.

This is the first state visit to Russia by the head of the Vietnamese Party and State since 1991, affirming Vietnam’s consistency, inheritance and high regard for the traditional friendship and Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Russia, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Le Thu Hang.

Vietnam and Russia have a long-standing traditional relationship. The Soviet Union was one of the first parties in the world to recognize the Democratic Republic of Vietnam established on September 2, 1945. The two countries officially established diplomatic relations on January 30, 1950.

In the decades that followed, the Soviet Union gave Vietnam a lot of economic and technical support, building many electricity projects, mining, metallurgical mechanics, transportation, agriculture…

The Soviet Union also sent many experienced economic and technical experts to help Vietnam build and develop the economy, as well as help Vietnam train nearly 40,000 officials and experts in many specialties.

Vietnam and Russia, the successor country of the Soviet Union, in June 1994 signed the Treaty on the basic principles of friendly relations, laying the foundation and legal basis for relations in the new stage of development.

In 2001, Vietnam and Russia established a Strategic Partnership, before upgrading to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2012. In November 2021, Vietnam and Russia issued a Joint Statement on the Vision of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership to 2030.

On June 20, 2024, Vietnam and Russia continued to issue a Joint Statement on deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership on the basis of 30 years of achievements in implementing the Treaty on the basic principles of Vietnam – Russia friendship.

Vietnam – Russia political relations have high trust and are constantly being strengthened. The two sides regularly exchange high-level delegations, most recently the official visit to Russia by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in March 2026 and the visit to Vietnam by Chairman of the National Duma (Russia’s House of Representatives) Vyacheslav Volodin in September 2025.

Russian President Vladimir Putin made official visits to Vietnam in 2001 and 2006, a state visit in 2013 and came to Da Nang to attend the APEC Conference in 2017. President Putin’s most recent state visit to Vietnam was in June 2024.

General Secretary To Lam paid an official visit to Russia and attended the 80th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War in May 2025. During this visit, the two sides adopted a Joint Statement on the major directions of the Vietnam – Russia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in the new period of cooperation.

Vietnam – Russia relations in other fields such as economics, trade, investment, security and defense have also made much progress.

Bilateral turnover in 2025 reaches nearly 4.77 billion USD, up 4% compared to 2024. In the first 7 months of 2026, turnover reaches 3.24 billion USD, up 12% over the same period in 2025, of which Vietnam’s exports reach 1.33 billion USD, down 5.2%, imports from Russia reach 1.91 billion USD, up about 22.5%.

Vietnam’s main export products to Russia include phones, electronics, textiles, footwear, agricultural products and seafood. Main imported products include coal, wheat, iron and steel, fertilizer, cars, machinery, equipment…

Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union countries, of which Russia is a member, signed the Free Trade Agreement in May 2015 and took effect from October 2016.

As of July 2026, Russia has 223 investment projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of about 996.4 million USD, ranking 28th/153 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.

Vietnam has 19 valid investment projects in Russia with a total registered capital of 1.64 billion USD, ranking 4th out of 88 countries and territories with investments in Vietnam, including Rusvietpetro Oil and Gas Joint Venture, TH Group’s Dairy and Agricultural Project…

Regarding education and training, since 2019, Russia has increased the number of scholarships for Vietnam to about 1,000 per school year. There are currently more than 3,000 Vietnamese students studying in Russia.

Science and technology cooperation continues to be maintained. The two countries have carried out research and technology transfer projects. Scientific research cooperation within the framework of the Tropical Center in Vietnam has brought many positive results.

The two sides are implementing the Nuclear Science and Technology Research Center project and organizing activities within the framework of the Cross Year 2026 on scientific and educational cooperation.

Cultural exchange activities are organized regularly, contributing to strengthening understanding and friendship between the people of Vietnam and Russia. The two sides organize Cultural Days annually and alternately in Vietnam and Russia.

Tourism recovered strongly in the first 6 months of 2026. Vietnam welcomed 742,000 Russian visitors, 2.8 times more than the same period in 2025. Vietnamese and Russian airlines have resumed direct flights between the cities of the two countries.

Local cooperation continues to be maintained through the exchange of delegations and the signing of many cooperation agreements. There are about 20 pairs of relationships between localities of the two countries established, especially between Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Moscow and St. Petersburg.

The Vietnamese community in Russia has nearly 80,000 people with many associations, making significant contributions to the development of the two countries and bilateral relations, and is always at the forefront of charitable activities.

The two countries also always coordinate closely at multilateral forums and international organizations such as the United Nations, APEC, ASEM, ARF, CICA…

Russia supports Vietnam’s stance on resolving disputes in the East Sea by peaceful means, without using force or threatening to use force, on the basis of international law, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and soon building a Code of Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (COC).

In an interview with the news agency TASS On September 6, on the occasion of a state visit to Russia at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin, General Secretary and President To Lam assessed Vietnam – Russia relations as “a rare close, loyal, and trusting relationship between the two peoples, as well as in international relations in general, forged over the past 75 years, continuously nurtured over many generations”.

The General Secretary and President said that the goal in the coming time is not only to inherit and preserve the achievements of the past 75 years, but also to deepen and comprehensively enhance bilateral cooperation.

“The Vietnam – Russia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership continues to be one of the top priorities and a strategic choice in Vietnam’s foreign policy,” said the head of the Party and State.