Russia's Rosatom Ready to Help Vietnam Build First Nuclear Plant, FM Lavrov Says
© Sputnik . Sergey Guneev
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Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son is visiting Russia from April 1-4. On Tuesday, he held a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, followed by a joint press conference.
Russian state atomic energy corporation Rosatom is ready to help Vietnam build its first nuclear power plant, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday, following talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son held in Moscow.
"The Vietnamese government has recently decided to develop the national nuclear industry. The Rosatom state corporation is ready to assist in the construction of the Ninh Thuan-1 nuclear power plant," Lavrov told reporters.
Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev said in mid-January that Russia could help Vietnam build a modern and safe power plant that would run on two nuclear reactors.
Russia and Vietnam signed agreements on the construction of a nuclear plant in 2010, but the Southeast Asian nation abandoned the project in 2016. Now that Vietnam is considering reviving it, Russia has begun updating agreements with Vietnam on the power plant construction, Likhachev said.
Moreover, Russia and Vietnam are interested in the development of cooperation in the security and defense areas, the Russian foreign minister pointed out.
As for trade relations between the two countries, the turnover amounted to almost $6 billion in 2024, the top diplomat noted.
"It was noted that, thanks to joint efforts, it was possible to ensure a steady growth in trade last year, by more than 20%, amounting to almost $6 billion," he said.
Russia and Vietnam also have opportunities that the countries will actively use, and the states are also committed to joint oil and gas projects in Russia and on the continental shelf of Vietnam, the minister added.
Moscow and Hanoi plan to hold high-level contacts this year, according to Sergey Lavrov.
"We discussed a large number of issues, including plans to hold ministerial and high-level contacts that are scheduled for this year," the Russian diplomacy head stated.
In particular, the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam will make an official visit to Russia in May, he unveiled.
"We put a premium on the participation of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam in the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow this May. At the same time, Comrade To Lam will pay an official visit to the Russian Federation, which we have been actively preparing today. A very interesting program and a solid package of documents is being prepared, which I hope will be It has been successfully agreed upon and signed," the Russian foreign minister said.
To Lam was invited to attend the Victory Day celebrations in May in Moscow, Lavrov specified.
"The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Comrade To Lam, has been invited to the Victory Day celebration. We will be very glad to see the Vietnamese leader at these events," the foreign minister stated.
Moscow appreciates Vietnam's consistent and balanced position on the Ukraine conflict and its root causes, the Russian diplomat emphasized.
"We have reiterated our appreciation to our Vietnamese friends for their consistent, balanced and objective position on the causes of the Ukraine crisis and on the developments on this topic at the current stage," he noted.
The top Russian diplomat added that he had informed Bui about Moscow's approach to resolving the conflict in Ukraine, which includes "mandatory elimination of the root causes of its emergence, or better to say the root causes of its conscious creation by the Western curators of the Kiev regime, which came to power as a result of an anti-constitutional coup."
