Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh held meetings with leaders of foreign countries and international organisations on the sidelines of the ongoing Nuclear Security Summit in Washington D.C. on March 31 (local time).

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (L) attends a working dinner hosted by US President Barack Obama at the White House on March 31

They included Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha, Italian PM Matteo Renzi, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, Norwegian PM Erna Solberg , UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and US National Security Advisor Susan Rice to name but a few.

At the meetings, the leaders compared notes on regional and international situations as well as areas of shared concern in order to promote bilateral ties, especially in trade, investment, and green and renewable energies.

Earlier, Minh attended a working dinner marking the opening of the summit.

The working dinner, hosted by US President Barack Obama and joined by leaders from over 50 countries worldwide, saw conversations surrounding threats to nuclear safety.

Participating countries reviewed the achievements of the previous Nuclear Security Summits, given the heightened public awareness of ensuring nuclear security. There are now more countries participating in international treaties in this field and more nations committing to cutting the use of highly-enriched uranium.

They also stressed the need to pay more heed to threats to nuclear security, especially nuclear terrorism, in the context that terrorist organistions are continually expanding their operations.

This is President Obama’s fourth and final nuclear security summit. The previous events were held in Washington DC in 2010, Seoul in 2012 and The Hague in 2014.

VNA