20000213

Ivanov vist to Vietnam may improve ties

HANOI: Russian Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov's upcoming two-day official visit to Vietnam will focus on economic cooperation between the countries, Vietnam's foreign ministry said on Saturday.

Ivanov's visit, set to start in Hanoi from Sunday, "aims to reinforce the traditional friendly relations and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries," a ministry statement said.

Ivanov is scheduled to hold talks with Foreign Minister Mguyen Dy Nien, as well as meet with the Secretary General of the Communist Party, Le Kha Phieu, President Tran Duc Luong, and Vice-Prime Minister Nguyen Manh Cam.

It will be Ivanov's first visit to Vietnam, and the last leg of an Asian tour that has included Japan and North Korea.

Hanoi had long been an ideological ally of Moscow, and was repaid with massive amounts of economic aid. But relations bottomed-out after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. AFP