Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn (left) and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio have a phone talk on Friday. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn held phone talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on January 24 evening.

Congratulating Rubio on his appointment as the Secretary of State, Sơn affirmed that the US is a leading comprehensive strategic partner of Việt Nam.

He highly appreciated the US’s support for a strong, independent, self-reliant and prosperous Việt Nam and expressed his wish that the two sides will continue to coordinate closely to further promote cooperation within the framework of the Việt Nam–US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, thus meeting the practical interests of the people of the two countries as well as contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

Sơn asked Rubio to once again convey the congratulations of leaders of the Party, State and Government of Việt Nam to President Donald J. Trump and Vice President James David Vance.

Rubio assessed that the US-Việt Nam relations have a solid foundation, based on many common interests. As the two countries are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the normalisation of diplomatic relations, Rubio hoped that the US and Việt Nam will continue to build an increasingly effective Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, while highly evaluating the concerns and major orientations proposed by Sơn for the bilateral relations in the coming time.

Rubio affirmed that the US-Việt Nam relationship is a typical model in international relations and shares many common interests, a foundational factor for the ties to continue to develop in the coming time.

The two officials agreed to coordinate to promote the exchange of high-level delegations, especially in the year celebrating the 30th anniversary of normalisation of relations, and discussed the promotion of efforts to overcome the consequences of war, maintain the development momentum of economic-trade-investment cooperation, and promote science-technology and defence-security cooperation for the practical benefits of the two countries' people.

The two sides also discussed the importance of promoting the ASEAN-US Strategic Partnership, the Mekong-US Partnership, the central role of ASEAN and the situation in the East Sea (internationally known as the South China Sea). They agreed to increase dialogue, actively contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region.

On this occasion, Sơn reiterated his invitation to Rubio to visit Việt Nam. The US Secretary of State accepted the invitation with pleasure and expressed his wish to visit Việt Nam soon.

On the occasion of the traditional Lunar New Year 2025, Rubio, on behalf of US leaders, extended New Year greetings to the leaders and people of Việt Nam. — VNS