The agreement was made during the phone talk between Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son and his Japanese counterpart Motegi Toshimitsu on April 27.

Japan highly appraises Viet Nam’s role and position in the region and the world, said Motegi, confirming that Japan will continue to cooperate with and assist Viet Nam in its development process.

For his part, Bui thanked the Japanese Government and people for providing cold storage facilities for COVID-19 vaccine worth JPY200 million and an oceanographic research vessel for Viet Nam.

The Japanese Minister proposed two nations join hands in soon resuming commercial flights based on the local COVID-19 situations to boost economic cooperation, trade and investment.

The ministers also exchanged views on international and regional issues of mutual concern, including East Sea issues.

Regarding the Myanmar situation, the two FMs called on relevant sides to exercise restraint and put an end to violence and bloodshed in the country.

They agreed to enhance close cooridnation at international and regional forums such as the United Nations and ASEAN.

Bui invited Motegi to visit Viet Nam at a convenient time and the latter accepted the invitatioThe same day, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son also held phone conversation with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov  who congratulated Bui on his appointment as the Vietnamese FM, expecting that he will lead the Viet Nam’s diplomacy to more successes. 

The Russian diplomat spoke highly of Viet Nam’s diplomatic achievements, including its successful roles as the ASEAN Chair 2020 and the non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) during the 2020-2021 tenure. 

Lavrov praised the remarkable role of Viet Nam in the world and the region. 

For his side, Bui expressed his delight on the developments of the Viet Nam-Russia relationship and congratulated Russia on effective management of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly COVID-19 vaccine research and production. 

Bui afffirmed Viet Nam always attaches importance to the comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia, considering Russia as one of the top partners in its foreign policy. 

The pair discussed Viet Nam-Russia cooperation across range of fields such as politics-diplomacy, security-defense, economics-trade, investment, energy, and COVID-19 fight as well as coordination between the two foreign ministries and the two nations at multi-lateral forums, including the UNSC and ASEAN. 

Bui expressed thanks to Russia for advocating Viet Nam as the Chair of ASEAN 2020 and the non-permanent member of the UNSC in the 2020-2021 tenure.

He said Viet Nam is willing to with collaborate closely with Russia and other ASEAN countries to organize activities to celebrate the 25th anniversary of ASEAN-Russia relations in 2021. 

Lavrow invited Bui to visit Russia at convenient time and the latter gladly accepted the invitation./.