On the 50th anniversary of Signing Day Paris Agreement About ending the war and restoring peace in Vietnam (January 27, 1973 – January 27, 2023), the Vietnam News Agency correspondent in Russia had an interesting conversation with Mr. Viktor Alekseevich Petrov. , a former member of the Asia-Africa Solidarity Committee and the Soviet Committee for Support of Vietnam under the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1973-1991, a person very close to the former Vice President, former Minister Diplomat, former Head of the negotiating delegation of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam at the Paris Conference Nguyen Thi Binh.
According to Mr. Petrov, the Soviet Committee to support Vietnam was born in 1965. The idea of establishing the committee was the initiative of the most famous social activists, artists, painters, etc. of the Soviet Union and was approved by China. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union supported it because following the Gulf of Tonkin incident, the US intensified its raids on the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The main task of the Soviet Committee for Vietnam is to support the just struggle of the Vietnamese people in the international arena.
In an intimate conversation, Mr. Petrov expressed his pride and deep impression when recalling pro-Vietnam events in the Soviet Union and around the world. He recalled a slogan of that period that was propagated by the Soviet Committee for Support of Vietnam: “Every Soviet citizen, first of all Communist Party members, must wake up every morning thinking what they need to do for Vietnam. and what more to do to support Vietnam.”
He said workers of almost all major Soviet enterprises and factories, with factories employing nearly 100,000 people, all spent a day’s salary to contribute to the fund to support Vietnam. He also told the story of Vanguard Truth, a Soviet children’s newspaper, which at that time published 20 million copies a day with articles calling on Soviet children to contribute to support Vietnamese children.
In his interesting story, Mr. Petrov shared that thanks to such huge amounts of money and material support for Vietnam, the Soviet Peace Fund sometimes sponsored to welcome up to 50 Vietnamese delegations per month, initially with may go to the Soviet Union, then to Europe and other countries in the world to express and promote Vietnam’s views.
His pro-Vietnam Soviet Committee also supported broad pro-Vietnamese mass movements around the world such as the pro-Vietnam movement in France, which resulted in the formation of the Versailles Conference in favor of Vietnam. Vietnamese households; movement in Sweden, led by lawyer, congressman Hans Göran Franck, established a court to discuss American crimes in Vietnam.
Mr. Petrov concluded: “I have participated in many movements to support other countries, but the scale of the pro-Vietnam movement is unprecedented, it is a very large and widespread movement around the world. Mr. Petro said that the Soviet Committee for Vietnam also invited American deserters in Vietnam to Moscow to discuss the crimes of American imperialism in Vietnam and later in other countries. Europe.
[Tòa nhà 17 phố Cambacérès: Nơi ươm mầm cho hòa bình Việt Nam tại Pháp]
Recalling his memories with former Foreign Minister and former head of the negotiating team of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam Nguyen Thi Binh, Mr. Petrov said he knew and started working with her. Nguyen Thi Binh also in 1973 because she often went to Moscow at the invitation of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
And it should be noted that, in the past, Vietnamese delegations had to go through Moscow to go from there to Paris to participate in negotiations. The Committee for Solidarity with Asia-Africa and the Soviet Committee for Vietnam was responsible for supporting the delegation of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam during its stay in the Soviet Union. At that time, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Binh often called him by the intimate name Viktor.
“She was a great woman and I still have the best feelings regarding her,” Mr. Petrov said. He said that it was not without reason that Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh was awarded VLlenin Award reputation for strengthening international peace.
On the morning of November 4, 1968, a delegation of the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam led by Mrs. Nguyen Thi Binh, Deputy Head of the delegation, arrived in Paris to attend the Four-Party Conference on Vietnam. (Photo: Van Luong/VNA)During her stay in Moscow, according to his account, Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh stayed at the Ukraine Hotel or the Arbat Hotel (formerly known as the Oktyabrskaya Hotel) and worked continuously. Her work schedule every day is always packed.
Mr. Petrov recounted that, because he was fluent in French, he accompanied Nguyen Thi Binh to meet Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister in charge of Vietnam Nikolai Firyubin, to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, and to visit many social organizations. , to the Women’s Committee of the female cosmonaut Tereshkova. He recalls: “People were very impressed with her mind, ingenuity, intelligence and understanding in her work.” Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh was “a surprising combination of femininity and elegance. She has an excellent knowledge of French… She also has a masculine strength, a fighting spirit of a soldier.”
According to Mr. Petrov, he and Nguyen Thi Binh came to speak at various mass events in the Soviet Union to garner support for Vietnam. She spoke at Moscow State University named following Lomonosov, spoke at the Taman Tank Division barracks on the outskirts of Moscow, the Kremlin Military School named following the Supreme Soviet of the Socialist Republic of the Russian Federation, the throne room of the Russian Federation. The oldest military school established under the revolutionary leader VLLenin and the first major officer school of the Soviet Union.
Mr. Petrov expressed his honor to meet two of the women who can be considered the greatest of Vietnam. In addition to Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh, he also worked with Ms. Nguyen Thi Dinh, a legendary general of Vietnam, during a visit to the Soviet Union.
Duy Trinh-Quang Vinh (VNA/Vietnam+)
