Prime Minister meets with President of Brazil and President of Ukraine

On the afternoon of May 21, in Hiroshima, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with Brazilian President Lula Da Silva.

The two leaders were pleased to note the positive progress in bilateral relations in recent times, in which bilateral trade maintained rapid growth. For many years, Brazil has been Vietnam's largest trade partner in Latin America, with trade turnover in 2022 reaching a record 6.78 billion USD.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed that Vietnam attaches importance to and wishes to strengthen the comprehensive partnership with Brazil, one of Vietnam's leading important partners in the region.

Based on the good relationship between the two countries, the Prime Minister asked Brazil to support and promote the early launch of negotiations on a free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR).

The two countries need to continue to coordinate and support each other at international organizations and multilateral forums, especially the United Nations, WTO and other multilateral forums of which both sides are members. Vietnam is ready to act as a bridge to strengthen relations between ASEAN and Brazil as Sectoral Partners, between ASEAN and MERCOSUR.

President Da Silva expressed his admiration and respect for the indomitable will of the country and people of Vietnam, and congratulated Vietnam on its achievements in socio-economic recovery and development.

Regarding the future direction, President Silva agreed with the ideas and proposals of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, especially supporting the early launch of negotiations on a free trade agreement between Vietnam and the MERCOSUR bloc. At the same time, he invited Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to visit Brazil.

The President suggested that the two countries continue to promote substantive cooperation in all aspects, especially in trade, agriculture , people-to-people exchange, and coordination at international organizations and multilateral forums.

On this occasion, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh conveyed the invitation of the Vietnamese high-ranking leaders to welcome President Lula Da Silva to visit Vietnam soon. President Silva happily accepted the invitation and looked forward to returning to Vietnam soon.

At the Discussion Session “Towards a peaceful, stable and prosperous world”, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh briefly met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelensky.

At the meeting, the Prime Minister emphasized that Vietnam attaches importance to the traditional friendly and cooperative relationship between the two countries.

Regarding the current conflict in Ukraine, the Prime Minister affirmed Vietnam's consistent stance of respecting the United Nations Charter and international law, especially the principles of respecting the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations, non-interference in internal affairs, non-use of force or threat of use of force, and all disputes need to be resolved by peaceful means. Vietnam hopes that the parties involved will soon end the conflict, resume dialogue, and resolve disputes by peaceful means.

The Prime Minister said that Vietnam has provided humanitarian assistance to the Ukrainian people and is ready to support the parties in finding a lasting peaceful solution on the basis of international law and respecting the legitimate interests of the parties.

The Prime Minister also expressed his gratitude to the Ukrainian Government for supporting the Vietnamese community in Ukraine.

President Zelensky shared the opinions of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, expressing gratitude for Vietnam's stance and humanitarian support.

Thu Hang (from Hiroshima, Japan)

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