Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday invited top Vietnamese officials, including General Secretary of the Communist Party Nguyen Phu Trong, to visit Russia, the RIA state news agency reported, citing the Kremlin.

Putin is on an official visit to Vietnam, where he has said Moscow is keen to partner with the southeast Asian country in energy and security.

RIA said a joint Russian-Vietnamese statement had spoken of the special place that defense and security matters played in bilateral ties.