OREANDA-NEWS. Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Wednesday sent a letter to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, in which he asked to establish the production of vaccines in the Russian Federation in Vietnam. It was reported by the Vietnamese state news agency VNA.

"Expressing gratitude to President Putin and Russia for the recent provision of Vietnam ... medical equipment, Nguyen Xuan Phuc expressed his wish that Russia would facilitate Vietnam's access to its vaccines and participate in the production of vaccines in Vietnam," the statement said.

"The Vietnamese President expressed satisfaction with the positive development of bilateral relations in various fields, despite the consequences of the pandemic," the agency adds.

The message added that the Vietnamese president praised the success of the Russian Federation in the fight against the spread of coronavirus and in the development of vaccines against COVID-19. Nguyen Xuan Phuc also, on behalf of the Vietnamese people, congratulated Putin and the Russian people on the upcoming Day of Russia.

In turn, the country's health minister Nguyen Thanh Long said that the Vietnamese state-owned company Vabiotech is working with Russian partners on a program for bottling and packaging Russian vaccines in Vietnam.