London (VNA) – State President Vo Van Thuong had separate meetingswith British and Cuban leaders, as part of his trip to the UK to attend the coronationof King Charles III from May 4 to 6.

The Vietnamese leader met with the UK’s House ofCommons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, House of Commons Deputy Speaker Nigel Evans, Secretaryof State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs James Cleverly, and Secretaryof State for Defence Ben Wallace, among others British officials.

During the meetings, Thuong rejoiced at positivedevelopments of the Vietnam-UK strategic partnership in the context that thetwo countries are celebrating the 50th anniversary of their bilateraldiplomatic ties.

The British officials shared their view on the significanceof Thuong’s visit, stressing Vietnam is a leading partner of the UK in theregion as the European nation is accelerating the implementation of itsIndo-Pacific strategy.

They also noted with pleasure the dynamic developments ofthe Vietnam-UK strategic partnership over the past more than 10 years in all fields, and agreed to continue increasing all-leveldelegation exchanges in all the channels of Party, State, Government, parliamentand people-to-people exchange, while further fully and effectively materialisingthe UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and bilateral cooperation mechanisms likethe defence policy dialogue and the Vietnam-UK Joint Economic and TradeCommittee (JETCO).

The two sides expressed their wish to expand anddeepen the bilateral cooperation in such potential spheres as nationaldefence-security, green economy, climate change response and renewable energy.

Thuong suggested the UK help Vietnam in finance andtechnology, and raising the country’s capacity within the framework of the JustEnergy Transition Partnership, towards fulfilling its commitments at the 26thUnited Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), which took place in the UK in2021.

Regarding cooperation at regional and internationalforums, the two sides agreed to closely coordinate and support each other inmultilateral frameworks like ASEAN-UK cooperation, the United Nations, the UNHuman Rights Council for 2023-2025, and the Comprehensive and ProgressiveAgreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

The British officials affirmed their support for Vietnam’sand ASEAN’s stance on the East Sea, the settlement of disputes by peaceful measureson the basis of international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of theSea (UNCLOS), as well as negotiations for a Code of Conduct in the East Sea(COC) between ASEAN and China.

In a meeting with Vice President of Cuba SalvadorValdés Mesa, Thuong emphasised that the relationship between Vietnam and Cubais exemplary in terms of purity, rarity, exemplar and loyalty.

Mesa, for his part, said the bilateral political tieshave been constantly consolidated and strengthened, as reflected throughregular all-level delegation exchanges, and expressed his belief that therelationship will grow further in the time ahead./.