General Secretary To Lam of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and his wife will pay an official visit to Russia and attend the military parade to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Victory Day on May 9, according to a statement from Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Victory Day is a major holiday marking the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany on May 9, 1945.
The list of foreign guest leaders attending the parade initially includes Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but Mr. Modi recently announced the cancellation due to the situation following the terrorist attack in Pahalgam.
Other guest leaders, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry, include Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, Brazilian President Lula da Silva, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, etc.
The head of the Communist Party of Vietnam will also pay state visits to Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Belarus, starting from May 5 to May 12.
Since early April 2025, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son has held talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, including preparations for General Secretary To Lam’s visit.
During the meeting, Son also suggested that Russia continue to consider visa exemption for Vietnamese citizens holding ordinary passports to promote tourism to the European country.
Hoang Anh (According to BBC Vietnamese)
