Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc holds phone talks with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc appreciated the co-operation between Việt Nam and the US in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic during phone talks with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday.

During their talks, US President Trump highly appreciated Việt Nam’s capacity in responding to COVID-19 and thanked Việt Nam for facilitating the supply and transport of medical equipment as well as giving masks to the US.

He sent his regards to the Vietnamese people and announced his readiness to give Việt Nam a number of ventilators to support the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Trump also suggested the two countries continue to co-operate more closely in disease prevention. He expressed his regret that the US-ASEAN Special Summit had been delayed due to the pandemic and wished to further promote US-ASEAN relations in the near future.

PM Phúc updated Trump on the situation of COVID-19 control in Việt Nam and shared condolences over losses and difficulties that the American people are suffering.

He said that under the leadership of the President, the US would soon successfully control the disease and restart the economy.

The Vietnamese PM thanked Trump’s goodwill for giving ventilators to Việt Nam. He also thanked the US for financial support to ASEAN, of which nearly US$10 million is dedicated to Việt Nam to improve healthcare capacity and post-pandemic economic recovery.

The two expressed satisfaction over the substantive progress in bilateral relations in all fields, from politics and diplomacy, economics and trade, security and defence to science and education, as well as in handling the consequences of war and promoting people-to-people exchange. The two sides were pleased to see that the two-way import and export turnover continued to increase in the first quarter of 2020, of which US exports to Việt Nam increased by 17 per cent over the same period last year.

They agreed to further promote economic and trade relations, and continue opening markets for each other's goods in the near future. The two leaders also discussed measures to deepen comprehensive relations, especially on the 25th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations, thereby making practical contributions to peace, stability, co-operation and development in the region.

President Trump affirmed that the US attached great importance to the comprehensive partnership with Việt Nam, assessed that the Việt Nam-US relationship had developed strongly over the past 25 years and believed that the relationship would continue to grow. He also expressed his wish to see the Vietnamese PM soon.

Earlier, on March 26 and April 28, PM Phúc and President Trump had letter exchanges of inquiry about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also on Wednesday, at the request of the US, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Phạm Bình Minh had phone talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Pompeo highly appreciated Việt Nam's role in coping with common challenges, agreed to strengthen co-ordination to promote relations between ASEAN and the US, while Việt Nam assumed the position of ASEAN Chair 2020 and non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

The two sides also exchanged international and regional issues of common concern. — VNS