HANOI: Vietnam said on Tuesday (March 27) that Russian President Vladimir Putin (pic) has accepted an invitation to visit, according to a government statement.
Moscow's invasion of Ukraine has left Putin internationally isolated, leaving him with few allies.
The Russian leader accepted a similar invitation in October when meeting with the then-Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong in China, Hanoi said at the time.
On Tuesday, Vietnam's party general secretary Nguyen Phu Trong had a telephone conversation from Hanoi with Putin.
They discussed a range of "major outlines to increase bilateral cooperation", the government said in a statement on its official website.
Trong invited Putin to pay an official visit to Vietnam.
"President Putin happily accepted and agreed that both sides will cooperate for an arrangement (of the visit) at an appropriate time," the statement said.
Trong also expressed deep condolences for victims of the Moscow attack on a concert hall last week, which killed at least 139 people.
Russia is a top arms supplier to Vietnam, with the communist country maintaining a strong relationship with Moscow since the days of the Soviet Union. - AFP
