Hanoi (VNA) – Senior Lieutenant General Phan Van Giang, Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) and Deputy Defence Minister, and a high-ranking delegation from the VPA left Vietnam on August 13 to start an official visit to Russia and attend the closing ceremony of the Army Games 2019 there.

The visit, made at the invitation of General Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia and First Deputy Defence Minister, aims to maintain delegation exchanges between the two ministries and to strengthen bilateral friendship.

Over the years, the defence partnership between Vietnam and Russia has been deepened as an important pillar in bilateral relations.

Vietnam sent 127 officers and soldiers to compete in this year’s Army Games in the categories of tank biathlon, safe route, safe environment, sniper frontier, military medical relay race, field kitchen, and emergency area.

Vietnamese officers and soldiers were praised by Russian military experts for their performance.

Colonel Vladislav Veryasov from the Russian Armed Forces’ Engineer Arm, also a main referee, praised the Vietnamese team's skills, saying Vietnamese military personnel showed unyielding fighting spirit.

Speaking with the broadcaster STV of Belarus, Deputy Commander of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Belarus, Colonel Vladimir Bely, also a main referee, said though participating in the Army Games for the first time, the Vietnamese sniper team achieved high results.

Vietnam’s attendance at the games also aims to mark the Vietnam-Russia and Russia-Vietnam Year (2019-2020).-VNA.