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General Phan Van Giang receives U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau. |
General Phan Van Giang reaffirmed that Vietnam considers the U.S. one of its important partners and expressed hope that the two countries would continue advancing their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace, Cooperation, and Sustainable Development. He underscored Vietnam’s desire to soon finalize and sign a reciprocal, fair, and balanced trade agreement, while promoting closer coordination to further strengthen bilateral cooperation, particularly in trade and economic relations.
Noting that defense cooperation has developed effectively and practically in line with the overall relationship between the two countries, General Phan Van Giang proposed expanding collaboration in high-level exchanges, consultation and dialogue mechanisms, training, U.N. peacekeeping operations, service-to-service cooperation, cybersecurity, military medicine, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, and defense industry cooperation.
He expressed hope that both sides would continue implementing existing agreements and cooperation frameworks, maintain regular exchanges and consultations, and further deepen practical defense ties. General Phan Van Giang also expressed confidence that Deputy Secretary Landau would continue supporting efforts to strengthen bilateral defense cooperation, contributing positively to the broader Vietnam - U.S. relationship.
Emphasizing the spirit of “putting the past aside and looking toward the future,” General Phan Van Giang said both countries continue to attach great importance to cooperation in addressing the consequences of war. Based on the memorandum of understanding signed in October 2025 on promoting cooperation in war legacy remediation, Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defense hopes the U.S. Department of State will fulfill its commitments, including providing an additional USD 130 million for the Bien Hoa Airport dioxin remediation project to help complete the project before 2030.
General Phan Van Giang affirmed that Vietnam will continue to closely coordinate with and facilitate efforts to search for U.S. personnel missing in action (MIA) in wartime. He also expressed hope that the U.S. would increase information sharing, provide documents and artifacts related to Vietnamese soldiers, and support Vietnam in enhancing its DNA identification capabilities for wartime remains.
He noted that such support is particularly important as Vietnam is implementing the “500-day campaign to accelerate the search for, recovery, and identification of fallen soldiers’ remains,” a humanitarian effort aimed at making the most of the remaining opportunity to locate and identify fallen service members.
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General Phan Van Giang and Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau exchange souvenirs. |
General Phan Van Giang also announced that the third Vietnam Defense Expo will be held in December 2026 and welcomed the participation of U.S. officials and defense companies.
For his part, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau highly valued cooperation with Vietnam and said his visit reflected the growing strength of bilateral relations. He noted that the visit would help advance agreed areas of cooperation, particularly efforts to address war legacies.
Deputy Secretary Landau reaffirmed his commitment to promoting the Vietnam - U.S. Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and further strengthening bilateral defense cooperation in a practical and effective manner.
Translated by Tran Hoai