The US is actively considering fully lifting its decades-old embargo on providing lethal military support to Vietnam, to help the Southeast Asian nation improve its national defence.

The US had last year partially removed the ban on Vietnam allowing for the sale of lethal weapons in the field of maritime security.

The arms embargo was first imposed in 1984 and has remained in effect since that time despite the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two former enemies in 1995.

Now two decades since the inception of those ties senior Assistant Secretary for Arms Control, Verification and Compliance Frank A. Rose has strongly hinted, Washington is moving closer to fully lifting the arms embargo.

Assistant Secretary Rose is currently on a travel to China, the Republic of Korea (RoK), Vietnam, and Japan from July 5- 16, for meetings and external events on space security, missile defence, arms control, and other bilateral and multilateral security topics.

On July 13-14, Assistant Secretary Rose is in Hanoi for meetings at the Vietnam National Satellite Centre, where he is engaging with senior officials from the Defence Ministry on issues related to space security and multilateral arms control.

At a July 13 reception, in response to a question by Deputy Minister of Defence, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh regarding lifting the ban, Assistant Secretary Rose strongly hinted the embargo will soon be fully lifted.

Assistant Secretary Rose emphasized the US will do its best to strengthen military cooperation with Vietnam under the content of a current memorandum of understanding and a joint vision statement on defence cooperation signed earlier this year.

VOV