Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov will discuss military cooperation with the Vietnamese authorities during his visit to the south-east Asian state on Tuesday, his spokeswoman said.

Serdyukov, who arrived in Vietnam on Monday, would meet with the country's President Nguyen Minh Triet and the defense minister, Gen. Phung Quang Thanh, during his stay in Hanoi.

Russia and Vietnam have cooperated in the military sphere since 1953. In 1998, Moscow and Hanoi signed an intergovernmental agreement on military cooperation, and a relevant Russian-Vietnamese intergovernmental commission was established in 1999.

In October 2008, during the Vietnamese president's visit to Moscow, Russia and Vietnam set up a strategy of military and technical cooperation until 2020 by signing a relevant intergovernmental memorandum.

Serdyukov's spokeswoman said "starting from 2008, we observe a stable increase in purchase of Russian military equipment by Vietnam."

Military contracts signed by Moscow and Hanoi in 2008 were estimated at more than $1 billion, she said. In 2009, Russia and Vietnam signed deals with a total worth of $3.5 billion.

According to the spokeswoman, contracts signed since the start of 2010 are estimated at $1 billion.

HANOI, March 23 (RIA Novosti)