Prime Minister Le Minh Hung: Making energy a pillar of ASEAN-Russia cooperation.

Speaking at the plenary session on the morning of June 18th. Summit commemorating 35 years of ASEAN-Russia relations In Kazan, Russian Federation, Prime Minister Le Minh Hung affirmed that Vietnam always values ​​the traditional friendship and the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Vietnam and Russia, and supports Russia in playing a more active role and making greater contributions to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the Asia-Pacific region and the world.

Three major directions for promoting ASEAN-Russia relations.

The Prime Minister outlined three major directions to promote effective and substantive ASEAN-Russia relations. Firstly, elevating the strategic level of relations through the regular organization of ASEAN-Russia Summits, strengthening relations between AIPA and the Russian Parliament, and promoting core principles and values ​​that both sides share and consistently support.

Secondly, more substantive cooperation should be achieved by removing bottlenecks in logistics, market access, and payment mechanisms, aiming to increase bilateral trade to $45 billion by 2035; and promoting cooperation in education, training, youth, culture, and tourism.

Third, enhance self-reliance and resilience, especially making energy a key pillar of cooperation, establishing a mechanism to prioritize the supply of fertilizers, animal feed ingredients, and agricultural technology; enhance digital self-reliance, contributing to the implementation of the Hanoi Convention on combating cybercrime.

Regarding international issues, Vietnam supports the peaceful resolution of disagreements and conflicts on the basis of international law, the United Nations Charter, and UNCLOS 1982, and contributes to promoting dialogue and seeking sustainable peaceful solutions. Vietnam welcomes the agreement between the US and Iran on the situation in the Middle East and hopes that both sides will effectively implement the agreement, working towards lasting peace for the benefit of the region and the international community.

The Prime Minister also announced that Vietnam will host the ASEAN-Russia Young Diplomats Summit in 2027.

Making energy a top priority.

Russian President Putin assessed that the world is witnessing structural changes; ASEAN-Russia relations, after 35 years of development, have made a significant contribution to maintaining peace, stability, and development in the region and the world. He affirmed that Russia will continue to actively participate in ASEAN-led mechanisms such as the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting Plus (ADMM+), the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the East Asia Summit (EAS), etc., and promote relations between the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) and the Russian Parliament.

President Putin emphasized that both sides need to double bilateral trade in the next 10 years, expanding cooperation in areas such as counter-terrorism, transnational crime, AI, science and technology, biosecurity, civilian nuclear energy, connectivity, and logistics.

ASEAN countries affirmed their appreciation for Russia's role, position, and contributions in the world and in the Asia-Pacific region; welcomed Russia's active participation in ASEAN-led mechanisms in the region; and agreed that the ASEAN-Russia Strategic Partnership should further enhance its role in contributing to peace, security, stability, and development in the region.

By 2025, ASEAN-Russia trade is projected to reach nearly US$18 billion, a significant increase compared to the pre-COVID-19 pandemic period; the number of Russian tourists visiting ASEAN in 2025 is expected to reach 3,2 million, a 27% increase compared to 2024. Russia is currently an important partner for ASEAN in energy, fertilizers, and grains, while ASEAN exports electronics, agricultural products, processed foods, textiles, and consumer goods to Russia.

Against the backdrop of unpredictable changes profoundly impacting the security and development of many countries and regions, ASEAN and Russian leaders agreed to strengthen bilateral relations to more effectively respond to challenges and contribute to building a peaceful, stable, and favorable environment for development in both regions. Therefore, the ASEAN-Russia Summit commemorating the 35th anniversary of ASEAN-Russia relations is not just an event, but also the beginning of a new chapter of cooperation that is more substantive, effective, cohesive, and mutually beneficial.

Both sides committed to strengthening high-level dialogue and deepening substantive cooperation in trade, investment, science, technology, education, training, people-to-people exchanges, and emerging fields such as the digital economy, innovation, AI, cybersecurity, and maritime cooperation.

In particular, both sides agreed to make energy a top priority, while strengthening cooperation on food security and agricultural supply chains. Cultural cooperation will also be enhanced to further connect the two regions.

In addition, to expand the scope of cooperation, ASEAN and Russia agreed to strengthen the ASEAN-Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) linkage, effectively utilize existing FTAs ​​between the EAEU and Vietnam and Singapore, promote cooperation between ASEAN and the SCO, and discuss possibilities for cooperation with BRICS...

The countries emphasized dialogue, cooperation, and the peaceful resolution of disputes based on international law and the United Nations Charter, acting responsibly on issues related to peace, supporting multilateralism, and continuing to promote an open, transparent, and resilient regional architecture with ASEAN playing a central role; stressing the importance of peace, stability, security, maritime and air safety, and unimpeded trade in accordance with international law, especially UNCLOS 1982.

ASEAN and Russia also welcomed and appreciated the agreement recently reached between the US and Iran on the situation in the Middle East.

At the conclusion of the conference, ASEAN and Russian leaders agreed to adopt the Kazan Declaration 2026 “ASEAN-Russia: Solidarity in Diversity – 35 Years of Partnership”, the ASEAN-Russia Declaration on Energy Cooperation and the ASEAN-Russia Declaration on Cultural Cooperation, along with the ASEAN-Russia Work Plan for the period 2026-2030.