At a reception for the Russian minister in Hanoi, President Quang spoke highly of the development of the Vietnam-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership and high-level agreements reached in 2017.Vietnam always remembers Russia’s great support for the country’s past struggle for national liberation and current nation building and safeguarding, he said, affirming Vietnam’s consistent policy of strengthening the partnership in all fields.The Vietnamese leader hailed efforts made by the two Defence Ministries and Russian partners to implement the two countries’ priority tasks in 2017, thus helping foster the bilateral relations.He took the occasion to wish Russia’s Presidential election 2018 a success.Minister Sergey Shoyu briefed the host on the outcomes of his talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Ngo Xuan Lich, during which they discussed and agreed on measures to consolidate and develop the traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation.He said they had mapped out a plan for cooperation until 2020, with the focus on military technological and training cooperation and delegation exchanges to share experience in the defence field.The minister noted that the two defence ministries held the third strategic defence dialogue at deputy ministerial level in Hanoi in November last year. Every year, the Russian side provides scholarships for officers of the Vietnamese defence ministry. The two ministries have also signed agreements on cooperation in UN peacekeeping activities and coordination in the framework of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM+).President Quang appreciated the outcomes of the talks between the two ministers and expressed his backing for measures they had agreed.He asked the two defence ministries to promote gained achievements and speed up negotiations towards the signing of a plan for defence cooperation during 2018-2020.