Force of gravity: celebrations in honor of the 80th anniversary of the Victory turned into the largest summit

Over 15 bilateral meetings between Vladimir Putin and the heads of other states, 27 leaders of their countries who visited Moscow, including three in the status of an official visit, solemn receptions and numerous anniversary events: the celebration of the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War has turned into one of the largest international summits in recent years. On May 10, the Russian president completed a series of international contacts, holding talks with representatives of six countries, including General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Which projects affecting Russia's strategic interests were discussed at these meetings can be found in the Izvestia article.

The largest international summit in Moscow

The commemorative events in honor of the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, which took place in Moscow from May 7 to May 10, became one of the largest international summits for the representation of heads of state. The 27 leaders who flew to Russia these days represented the countries of Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe, where almost half of the world's population lives.

During their visit to the Russian capital, the heads of state not only discussed their concerns with the host of the event, but also held a number of meetings among themselves. For example, it is known that Xi Jinping met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. And the latter talked with the leaders of Vietnam and Brazil. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has already compared the scale of negotiations between foreign leaders on the sidelines of the 80th anniversary of Victory with negotiations at major summits.

Vladimir Putin personally spoke with most of those who came to Russia in one format or another. The visiting presidents of the CIS countries remained without public bilateral contacts with the Russian leader. The only exception was the leader of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, whose meeting with Putin closed the series of negotiations that took place on Victory Day.

And on May 10, the first Russian-Vietnamese talks were held in the Kremlin. The Head of State met with General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party To Lam. The delegation arrived in the status of an official visit, which usually involves communication in a narrow format and in an expanded format with the participation of all representatives of the delegations. The negotiations lasted more than three hours — Lam arrived at the Grand Kremlin Palace closer to one o'clock in the afternoon, and after 16:00 the leaders went to the media for a joint statement. Both leaders called the negotiations very successful.

— This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries. Over the years, bilateral relations have strengthened, gained the status of a comprehensive strategic partnership and continue to develop steadily in the spirit of equality, mutual respect and consideration of each other's interests," Vladimir Putin said.

He thanked To Lam for Vietnam's decision to participate in events in Moscow on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Victory. Moreover, 68 cadets of the first Army Officer School of Vietnam marched shoulder to shoulder with military crews from Russia and other countries on Red Square on May 9. The Russian leader also recalled that the Russian Federation preserves the memory of the Vietnamese internationalist volunteers who heroically fought in the ranks of the Red Army in 1941-1942 in the Battle for Moscow. Toh Lam thanked the Russian President for the warm welcome in Moscow and invited him to Vietnam once again.

"The president and I have confirmed that the leaders and peoples of Vietnam and Russia always cherish the long—standing traditional friendship between the two countries, which has been tested by time, is constantly strengthening and developing in the name of the long—term interests of the two peoples, for the benefit of the inhabitants of the two peoples," said To Lam.

Russia is interested in dynamically developing its strategic partnership with Vietnam and preserving it as the flagship of cooperation between Russia and Southeast Asia, said Ekaterina Koldunova, Director of the MGIMO ASEAN Center. Moreover, Vietnam is an important logistics hub connecting the Russian Far East with other partners in Asia, so Moscow needs to develop strong logistics points in this country. It is also important for Hanoi to maintain relations with Moscow.

— Vietnam is now forced to actively balance between its main economic and political counterparties — China and the United States. In this regard, the concept of bamboo diplomacy in Vietnamese has even been developed. This balancing act in connection with Trump's actions is becoming more and more difficult, which is why Vietnam is interested in reliable political, economic and technological partners like Russia, Ekaterina Koldunova told Izvestia.

What is the importance of relations between Russia and Vietnam

Relations between Russia and Vietnam are developing successfully in all areas, Vladimir Putin said. The trade turnover in 2024 increased by more than 20% and reached $6 billion. At the same time, countries have a lot to work on, as this figure was higher in 2021.

— But we know what we have to do for this. In order not only to achieve the previous level, but also to go further," the president stressed.

The use of nuclear energy will be a good incentive for the further growth of Vietnam's economy, Vladimir Putin noted.

"We agreed to deepen cooperation in the field of defense, security and military equipment, jointly respond to non—traditional security challenges, cybersecurity, as well as cooperate in preventing and combating high—tech crimes," said To Lam.

The politicians also touched on the humanitarian side. Russia greatly appreciates that Vietnam pays great attention to learning the Russian language. The regional Russian Language Training Center for citizens of Southeast Asian countries will soon open in Hanoi, the president said. Today, cooperation between the two countries in the humanitarian field is reaching a new level, Valery Falkov, Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, told Izvestia. According to him, in recent years, more than 75 thousand Vietnamese citizens have been trained in Russian educational institutions, and their number is growing every year.

— We give Vietnam one of the largest quotas every year. The country is in the top 5 in terms of the number of allocated places," he noted.

Despite the fact that the last time Vladimir Putin and Tom Lam met was less than a year ago — in June 2024, during the visit of the Russian president to Hanoi — the parties signed a solid package of documents following the negotiations. In total, 25 agreements and memoranda were signed in various areas. However, the main document is the joint declaration "On the main directions of Russian—Vietnamese Comprehensive strategic Partnership relations at a new stage." The main provisions of the document noted, in particular, that Russia highly appreciates Vietnam's efforts to find a peaceful and sustainable solution to the Ukrainian crisis. In addition, Moscow and Hanoi do not support the imposition of unilateral sanctions that do not comply with international law and are not approved by the UN Security Council. Russia and Vietnam have agreed to sign intergovernmental agreements on the construction of a nuclear power plant in Vietnam.

"There are many points and many positions, but its main point is that we have recorded the start of construction of a new nuclear science research center in Vietnam and have recorded the transition to the creation of an energy project,— Rosatom head Alexei Likhachev told Izvestia.

Discussion of the situation in the Gaza Strip

On May 10, the President's schedule included five more meetings with the leaders of Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Palestine. The talks with the latter, Mahmoud Abbas, received the most attention, as the situation in the Gaza Strip was discussed openly. Abbas thanked Vladimir Putin for Russia's support for the Palestinian people, especially noting the humanitarian aid provided by 30,000 tons of wheat.

— Tension is also growing in the West Bank of the Jordan River. The Gaza Strip is experiencing a humanitarian catastrophe in the full sense of the word. Russia has consistently advocated for humanitarian access and the resumption of the Middle East peace process. Unfortunately, the situation is only getting worse. I was just talking about the humanitarian crisis and catastrophe. Of course, this is compounded by decisions to ban even humanitarian support, the supply of essential goods and electricity to the Gaza Strip, which is particularly worrying," Vladimir Putin stressed.

Mahmoud Abbas added that Palestine wants to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and solve humanitarian problems. "We are currently overcoming very difficult conditions due to the military situation and the issues of concluding a truce. This applies to both the West Bank and Gaza," he concluded.