President Trump expects to see Vietnam PM again: Foreign ministry

US President Donald Trump has expressed his wish to return to meet with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc soon, Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said in a release.

The information was revealed after a phone conversation between the two dignitaries on May 6 at the request of the US side, with a focus on the fight against Covid-19.

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc holds talks with American President Donald Trump on May 6. Photo: VNA

During the phone call, Trump highly appreciated Vietnam’s response to the pandemic and thanked Vietnam for the donation of face masks and having facilitated the delivery of medical supplies to the US.

Trump expected further cooperation in fighting against the pandemic and announced that the US is willing to present ventilators to support Vietnam in treating Covid-19 patients.

Trump took the occasion to express his regret at the postponement of the US-ASEAN Special Summit due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and expected to further boost the US-ASEAN relations in the time to come.

President Trump and PM Phuc have met in several ocassions. Phuc was the first leader of ASEAN nations to see Trump at the White House in May 2017 after the latter's inauguration. Trump was in Vietnam in November 2017 for the APEC leaders' summit and paid an official visit to Hanoi where he met Phuc again and was welcome by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong.

For his part, during the phone call on May 6, Phuc extended sympathies to the losses of the American people caused by the pandemic and thanked the president for the medical aid as well as an amount for nearly US$10 million for Vietnam to improve its health capacity and aid post-pandemic economic recovery.

The two leaders expressed their satisfaction of the multifaceted ties across all fields, from politics, diplomacy, trade, security and defense, science and education to war legacy settlement, and people-to-people exchange.

They were satisfied with the two-way trade in the first quarter this year, in which the US exports to Vietnam rose 17% on year.

Both Trump and Phuc agreed that fruitful cooperation would significantly contribute to the 25th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral diplomatic relations.

President Trump affirmed that the US attaches importance to the comprehensive partnership with Vietnam, noting that the bilateral ties have advanced robustly over the last 25 years and will continue to develop soundly in the coming time.

Earlier on March 26 and April 28, Phuc and Trump exchanged letters on fighting the pandemic.

On May 6, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh held phone talks on the importance of the US-ASEAN relations. They agreed to promote cooperation to advance the ties as Vietnam assumes the chair of ASEAN 2020 and non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.