Putin meets top Vietnamese leaders

Visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin met top Vietnamese leaders here on Tuesday. Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang held talks with Putin, with both sides agreeing to give priority to energy cooperation in the future, with focus on oil, gas and nuclear power. The two presidents witnessed the signing of 17 documents, including inter-governmental agreements on training Vietnamese citizens in Russia, the transfer of sentenced prisoners and defence cooperation as well as energy cooperation deals. During a meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Putin affirmed that Vietnam is a key partner of Russia in Asia- Pacific region and highly valued Vietnam's efforts in promoting bilateral cooperation, especially in economy, trade and investment. Putin hoped to meet the target of seven billion U.S. dollars in bilateral trade by 2015, adding that both sides should create favorable conditions for expanding mutual investment. Nguyen Tan Dung said the Vietnamese government will do its utmost to work with the Russian government in implementing the agreements. Dung proposed that the inter-governmental committee review the implementation of the agreements every year. Dung suggested the Russian side speed up negotiations on a free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus in a bid to reach deal by late 2014 and officially sign it by 2015. The two leaders also agreed to step up cooperation in national defense, military technology, oil and gas exploration and exploitation, energy, mining and education. General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong described the Russian President's visit to Vietnam as a strong push for traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Russia. The two sides emphasized the need to strengthen cooperation in party, state, parliament and people-to-people exchange. They recognized the positive outcome of bilateral cooperation, agreeing that it is necessary to make full use of the existing cooperation mechanisms to effectively implement agreements. Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Vietnam's capital Hanoi on Tuesday morning on one-day official visit.