Russia wants to take part in Vietnam`s planned nuclear energy program, Russia`s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Denisov said Thursday following talks with Vietnam`s Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem in Hanoi.

`We know that such plans were made in Vietnam, very daring and far-reaching plans. We hope that Russia will be among those who will work with Vietnam in this hi-tech area and continue the traditions of our cooperation,` Denisov said in an interview to the ITAR-TASS news agency.

Last week, Russia and Vietnam signed oil and gas deals after trade talks in Moscow between the countries` presidents, as part of a broader effort by Russia to regain Soviet-era influence in the region.

While trade between Russia and Vietnam has grown in recent years, Russia`s clout in the Southeast Asian country is still a shadow of Soviet-era levels.

Russian trade turnover with Vietnam was set to reach 1.5 billion dollars in 2007, Medvedev said, a figure dwarfed by the annual trade turnover between Vietnam and the United States of over 10 billion dollars.