At the dialogue, Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc affirmed that Vietnam highly values and hopes Vietnam-US ties to develop stably and effectively both in scope and scale on the basis of mutual respect for each side’s independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and political system, contributing to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in the Asia-Pacific region and the world as a whole. The Vietnamese diplomat suggested that the two sides focus on implementing well contents that high-level leaders of the two countries agreed in 2017 so as to continue developing Vietnam-US ties substantially and effectively, keep exchanging high-level visits and maintaining dialogue mechanisms, and promote development of economic, trade, and investment relations. He highly appreciated progress in security and defense cooperation and proposed that the two sides strengthen cooperation in humanitarian aid and mitigation of war consequences, focusing on the dioxin detoxification project at Bien Hoa airport, UXO clearance, support for victims of war, and more.

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At the event. Source: baoquocte.vn

For her part, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Tina Kaidanow affirmed that the US considers dealing with war consequences one of the priorities in security and defense cooperation with Vietnam. The US will continue the support for Vietnam in this field. She held that the two sides still have much room for strengthening cooperation in such areas as humanitarian aid, disaster relief, search and rescue, maritime security, defense trade, etc.

The two sides then discussed measures to enhance cooperation in regional and global issues of mutual concern. They agreed to support the central role of ASEAN in engaging in issues related to peace, security, cooperation and development in the region, promoting cooperation in non-proliferation of nuclear weapons; counterterrorism; fighting cybercrime, transnational crime; and joining UN peacekeeping operations. The two sides exchanged views on the situation in the East Sea (South China Sea) and reaffirmed the importance of security, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation, and unimpeded trade in the East Sea; non-use or threat to use force; settlement of disputes in the waters by peaceful means in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The two sides agreed that respect must be paid to diplomatic and legal processes, effective and full implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and the early signing of the Code of Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (COC).

Translated by Huu Duong