🇰🇵 The official welcome ceremony between President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and Chairman of State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Kim Jong Un took place in Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square, during which the two Heads of State introduced members of their delegations.

#RussiaDPRK 🇷🇺🇰🇵

⚡️ The Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, on the eve of the International Day of Parliamentarism celebrated annually on 30 June in accordance with United Nations General Assembly resolution A/Res/72/278 adopted on 22 May 2018, is calling on international parliamentary organizations and parliaments of the world to work together towards strengthening peaceful and mutually beneficial relations among peoples and nations.

Senators of the Russian Federation note that shaping a new, more just multipolar world order is an objective process. Attempts by the collective West to impose on the international community a unipolar world order based on the self-interested diktat of Washington and a group of its satellites are expectedly failing. In these conditions, parliamentary diplomacy becomes increasingly important in establishing a constructive dialogue among nations.

The Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation emphasizes that the Inter-Parliamentary Union has a special role to play in making the joint work of legislators from different countries more effective, especially on countering new challenges and threats faced by humanity.

🤝 The senators of the Russian Federation are developing productive cooperation with colleagues from other countries within the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia, Asian Parliamentary Assembly and Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum.

The Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation strongly condemns the openly destructive attempts of the countries of the collective West to block the work of the Russian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE PA).

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☝️ The Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation notes the importance of further developing direct contacts with the Arab Parliament, Parliament of the Latin American and Caribbean States, Parliament of the South American Common Market, Central American Parliament, as well as with the Arab Inter Parliamentary Union, African Parliamentary Union, Pan African Parliament, Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Member States, and Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The senators of the Russian Federation express hope that during the upcoming 10th BRICS Parliamentary Forum in St. Petersburg in July 2024, legislators from the #BRICS member countries meeting in an expanded format for the first time, will contribute to a more efficient and democratic international relations system, preventing unilateral restrictive measures against sovereign states, and strengthening ties with developing countries and their integration associations.

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🇷🇺🇰🇵 Beginning of Russia's President Vladimir Putin's conversation with the Chairman of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Kim Jong-un

💬 Vladimir Putin: There are decades of close friendship and cooperation between Russia and the DPRK. Our countries’ interaction is based on the principles of equality and respect for each other’s interests.

Last year, we marked 75 years of diplomatic relations and this year – the 75th Anniversary of the first interstate document, the Agreement on Economic and Cultural Cooperation.

Following your visit to Russia last year, we have made significant progress in strengthening modern-day ties between our countries. Today, a new fundamental document has been prepared, which will form the backbone of our relationship in the long term.

Russian-Korean friendship was forged during a difficult period. In 1945, Soviet soldiers fought side by side with Korean patriots for the liberation of Korea from Japanese invaders. Our pilots made tens of thousands of combat flights during the 1950–1953 liberation war. Today we will lay wreaths at the Liberation Monument. The heroism of our predecessors is a solid foundation for the further development of our relations today.

We highly value your consistent and unwavering support for Russian policy, including in relation to Ukraine. I am referring to our struggle against the hegemonistic and imperialist policy towards the Russian Federation, which the US and its satellite states have been dictating for decades.

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I am delighted to see you again, and I hope that our next meeting will take place in Moscow.

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🎙 Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Chairman of State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Kim Jong-un made press statements following Russia-DPRK talks (Pyongyang, June 19, 2024)

💬 We prioritise strengthening the traditionally friendly and neighbourly relations between Russia and the DPRK that are rooted in the glorious traditions of our shared history. Allow me to remind you that the Soviet Union played an essential role in liberating Korea from the Japanese colonial rule. This year, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea marks 75 years since concluding its first international agreement – and it was a treaty with our country.

Key talking points:

• Today, we held constructive talks covering the entire scope of our practical cooperation. We signed a new interstate treaty, the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which outlines large-scale objectives and guidelines for deepening Russia-DPRK links for the long term. This is a truly breakthrough document

• Our countries are genuinely interested in continuing most active cooperation between the senior officials of our economic agencies, parliaments, law enforcement, security, foreign policy agencies, and between our public organisations and citizens.

• The Treaty on Comprehensive Partnership signed today contemplates, among other things, mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of the parties thereto.

• Our countries consistently defend the ideas of creating a more just and democratic multipolar world order.

• Both Russia and Korea conduct an independent and autonomous foreign policy and do not accept the language of blackmail and dictate. We are against the practice of applying politically motivated sanctions and restrictions.

• Notwithstanding the external pressure, our countries are successfully developing on a sovereign and independent basis, they have rendered and will continue to render each other an all-round support as genuine friends and good neighbours.

• The propaganda cliches reproduced time after time by the Westerners are no longer able to disguise their aggressive geopolitical designs, including in Northeast Asia. Our opinions regarding the root causes of escalation of the military-political tension coincide. They include the US confrontational policy of expanding its military infrastructure in the sub-region, which is accompanied by a substantial increase in the scope and intensity of various military exercises involving the Republic of Korea and Japan, which have a hostile nature towards the DPRK.

• Russia is ready to continue its political and diplomatic efforts to eliminate the threat of the recurrence of an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula and to build an architecture of long-term peace and stability there based on the principle of the indivisible security.

• I am confident that today’s talks will contribute to further development of friendship and partnership between Russia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and to strengthening of security across the entire region.

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#RussiaDPRK 🇷🇺🇰🇵

📰 Article by Russia's President Vladimir Putin for publication in Nhân Dân, the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Vietnam (June 19, 2024)

Russia and Vietnam: Friendship Tested by Time

💬 It is symbolic that our upcoming visit to Vietnam will take place around the date that marks the 30th anniversary of the Russian-Vietnamese Treaty on Foundations of Friendly Relations. This strategic document opened up vast opportunities to strengthen and develop the whole range of bilateral ties, giving them a powerful impetus and increasing their dynamics at the new historical stage.

Key points:

🔹 Our country significantly contributed to the heroic struggle of the Vietnamese people against foreign invaders. After the victory and complete liberation of the Vietnamese territory from the occupiers, it was Soviet builders, engineers, doctors, teachers and scientists who helped rebuild Vietnam.

🔹 Vietnam is a vibrant and unique ancient civilization adding to the tapestry of a multipolar world. Hanoi pursues an independent foreign policy in the global arena and strongly advocates a just world order based on international law and principles of equality of all states and non-interference in their internal affairs.

🔹 We highly appreciate the fact that our countries have coinciding or similar approaches to pressing issues on the international agenda. We work closely together within key international forums, first of all within the UN. <...> We see Vietnam as a like-minded partner in shaping a new architecture of equal and indivisible Eurasian security on an inclusive and non-discriminatory basis.

🔹 We are grateful to our Vietnamese friends for their balanced position on the Ukraine crisis and their desire to facilitate the search for practical ways to settle it peacefully. All of this is fully in line with the spirit and nature of our relations.

🔹 Together with our Vietnamese friends, we will continue to develop #RussiaVietnam ties and cooperation for the benefit of our peoples, for stability and prosperity in the region and the world as a whole.

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🇷🇺🇻🇳 At the invitation of the General Secretary of Vietnam's Communist Party Nguyen Phu Trong, Russia's President Vladimir Putin arrived in Hanoi, thus commencing a state visit to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

#RussiaVietnam

🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s answer to a question from Channel One (Pyongyang, June 19, 2024)

❓ Question: Would you comment on the article in the Russia-DPRK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty regarding assistance in case one of the countries is under attack? Does this mean that we might have to fight for the Koreans, and the Koreans for us?

💬 Sergey Lavrov: If anyone doubts the legality of this clause, then they need to read it carefully. It says that in the event of aggression against one of the parties, the second party will provide it with all necessary assistance in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter and the national legislation of Russia and the DPRK.

In the view of someone regarding this as unlawful, this article can really be objected to only by those who are planning aggression against the DPRK or the Russian Federation. In our case it is a purely defensive position.

#VideoOfTheDay

🇷🇺🇻🇳 President of Vietnam Tô Lâm officially welcomed President of Russia Vladimir Putin in a solemn ceremony in Hanoi.

#RussiaVietnam

⚡️ Human Rights Situation in Certain Countries (The Joint Report of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus)

The document aims to draw attention to the challenges and threats faced by the contemporary international community in the field of human rights.

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📄 With regard to the human rights issues raised in the Report, our countries firmly believe that applying the so-called double-standards while assessing certain situations and phenomena remains a major challenge in this field. In this regard, it is very symptomatic that such an approach is increasingly being used by the countries of the collective West to fuel confrontation and exert pressure on sovereign States. <...>

We have repeatedly pointed out in international human rights forums and in thematic reports on human rights that a number of countries are openly promoting racist ideas and values, provoking the upsurge of radical nationalism. And this is happening despite the fact that there are legal mechanisms in place within the United Nations, the OSCE and a number of other international organizations aimed at countering the glorification of Nazism, racism, xenophobia and related intolerance.

❗️ However, such connivance is nothing new, especially since Western "model democracies" are no strangers to racist and neo-colonial views – examples abound in our time, and even more so in the history of the twentieth century, and particularly of World War II. Such duplicity of the West was demonstrated by the events of 2022 and its declared "crusade" against the "Russian world".

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In the emerging new world, which should be based on a fairer system of international relations, the full realization of the principle of the sovereign equality of States and the historical, cultural, religious and national particularities of each country is essential. Only on that basis would the negative effects of colonialism, neo-colonial thinking, racism, racial discrimination and related intolerance be fully eradicated. This would prevent unlawful attempts by certain countries to "bring to heel" the international law system and use its universal human rights mechanisms to suit their own parochial and vested interests.

☝️ The negative examples from both the present and the recent past cited in the Report, which, for the most part, we are all well aware of, are a very strong evidence of the need to mobilize the entire constructive-minded international community to successfully confront these challenges.

🇷🇺🇻🇳 President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin took part in a wreath laying ceremony at the War Memorial in Hanoi.

ℹ️ The monument was unveiled on May 7, 1994, the day the country celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Victory of the Vietnamese people over the French colonisers at Dien Bien Phu.

The main part of the Memorial, which is more than 12 metres high, is made of white granite and consists of four adjacent arches with gilded vaults, each facing a cardinal point.

#RussiaVietnam

🇷🇺🇻🇳 In Hanoi, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam To Lam held talks with the participation of official delegations.

💬 Vladimir Putin: Strengthening our comprehensive strategic partnership with Vietnam remains one of our top priorities.

You mentioned that we are currently celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Treaty on the Principles of Friendly Relations. Throughout these years, we have maintained regular and meaningful political engagements, involving parliaments, ministries, departments, political parties, regions, and civil society organisations. Recently, you also visited Russia in your capacity as Minister of Public Security.

Trade and economic relations continue to advance progressively. Last year, trade turnover increased by eight percent, thanks in part to the close cooperation of intergovernmental commissions on both sides. The growth in trade turnover is also bolstered by the implementation of the 2015 free trade agreement between the EAEU and Vietnam.

We coordinate our efforts in the international arena. Russia places significant emphasis on enhancing dialogue with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, with Vietnam being a prominent member.

#RussiaVietnam

🇷🇺🇻🇳 President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin met with Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam Pham Minh Chinh

💬 Vladimir Putin: The Russian-Vietnamese relations of trust and mutual understanding have come a long way <...> and have stood the test of time with honour.

The Soviet Union, as you also noted, provided effective assistance in the Vietnamese people’s heroic struggle against the French and later the American invaders, and subsequently contributed to the peaceful development of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

In recent decades, we have significantly expanded the legal framework for cooperation. In addition to the cornerstone Treaty on Foundations of Friendly Relations, which just recently turned 30 years old, more than 80 interstate and intergovernmental agreements are now in place between our countries. A number of important bilateral documents were also signed during the current visit.

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Educational cooperation continues; the government has established a quota of 1,000 university scholarships with state grants to admit Vietnamese citizens next year.

Russia will host Days of Vietnamese Culture this year. Vietnamese athletes took part in the #BRICS Games earlier this month.

Many Russian cities and regions, including Moscow, St Petersburg, the Kaluga, Rostov and Ulyanovsk regions, are active in cooperating with cities and provinces of Vietnam.

🤝 I would like to underscore that despite all the current challenges, we are committed to strengthening the comprehensive strategic partnership between the Russian Federation and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and we will do our utmost to advance it. I hope that this visit will serve to strengthen our ties; I have no doubt about it.

#RussiaVietnam

💬 Russia’s MFA Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova:

I wonder how that part of Georgian society that was ready to do anything to repeal the law on foreign agents will feel now, guided by loyalty to “Western values.”

So, Canada. A nation that from the outset couldn't have been more Western (in all the senses of the term) 👇

May 3. Judge Marie-Josée Hogue, the Court of Appeal of Quebec, who led the investigation into foreign interference in state affairs commissioned by the Trudeau regime, publishes an almost 200-page report based on its results.
May 6 (three days later!). It looks like the Canadian government has postponed all important matters to introduce a bill on strict registration of foreign agents into the lower house of parliament.
May 29. The bill passes the second reading in the lower house. The document is approved.
June 13. The bill is passing the third reading in the lower house. Adopted unanimously. Of course, it’s Canada, democracy, pluralism of opinions.
June 13 (same day!). It is immediately sent for the first reading to the Senate, the upper house of parliament.
June 17. The bill is undergoing the second reading in the Senate. It is approved. It is obvious that the senators read all 194 pages of the document in one gulp.
June 18. The bill is approved in the relevant Senate committee.

In total, the entire process took six weeks: unprecedented speed for such an important amendment to the legislation.

The bill contains the following proposals:
✓ creation of a register of foreign agents;
✓ restriction of embassy employees;
✓ creation of the office of the commissioner to counter foreign interference.

At the same time, 14 Canadian dissident groups wrote an open letter, in which they called to put an end to this parliamentary “emergency” and return to normal work, because it was all an obvious attempt to push a repressive law through parliament on the eve of the upcoming parliamentary elections next year (their results will determine the fate of the executive branch).

Deputies of the lower chamber say openly that they hadn't read the document yet voted for it en masse.

This is how the Trudeau regime is pushing through a compliant parliament an updated and toughened version of the American law on foreign agents, FARA.

That's Canada. It doesn’t get any more Western. A citadel of “Western values.”

🇷🇺🇻🇳 The President of Russia Vladimir Putin took part in the wreath-laying ceremony at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Ba Dinh Square.

ℹ️ The mausoleum was opened to visitors in September 1975. It is a two-story building made of grey marble, with a transparent sarcophagus containing the body of Vietnam's first President on the first floor. The mausoleum was designed and built with the assistance of Soviet specialists.

🇷🇺🇻🇳 Russia's President Vladimir Putin and President of Vietnam To Lam made statements to the media (June 20, 2024)

💬 Vladimir Putin: Russia places great emphasis on further strengthening the Russian-Vietnamese comprehensive, long-standing and friendly relations, our strategic partnership. Our ties continue to expand and progress in the spirit of equality, mutual respect and consideration of each other’s interests. Our countries are linked by a strong bond of shared history. Next year will mark 75 years of diplomatic relations between Russia and Vietnam. <...>

Today, Comrade President and I have adopted a statement that supports the principles of the Russian-Vietnamese comprehensive strategic partnership and announces new guidelines for our joint work in the future.

☝️ I would like to mention the tangible benefits our friends have derived from the Free Trade Agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union. Enacted in 2016, it has since then vastly promoted growth in Russian-Vietnamese trade through favourable conditions for access of goods and services to each other’s markets, also fostering investment, technology exchange and innovation.

Equally important is that our countries are consistently pursuing the transition to settlements in national currencies and striving to create sustainable channels of cooperation in lending activities and banking.

⚛️ A strategic point of our bilateral cooperation is the energy sector. <...> Russia and Vietnam have excellent opportunities for cooperation in renewable energy. <...> Another promising area for expanding bilateral cooperation is nuclear energy.

We consider our cooperation on the Vladivostok – Ho Chi Minh City maritime transport corridor, a large-scale infrastructure project, to be highly promising. Since its opening in 2022, this corridor has facilitated regular cargo shipments with container ships operating on a weekly basis.

Currently, more than 3,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students from Vietnam are studying in Russian universities.

🤝 Russia's and Vietnam's respective stances on these issues are largely in accord or closely aligned. Our countries remain committed to the principles of the rule of international law, sovereignty, and non-interference in countries' domestic affairs. They coordinate their efforts on key international platforms, including the UN, as well as within the #RussiaASEAN dialogue and at summits in East Asia.

During our discussion on the situation in the Asia-Pacific region, we expressed mutual interest in building a strong and reliable security architecture in the Asia-Pacific region based on the principles of the non-use of force and peaceful settlement of disputes, with no room for closed military-political blocs.

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#RussiaVietnam

🛬 Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrives in Kazakhstan to take part in the upcoming #CSTO Foreign Ministers Council meeting

📍 Almaty, June 20