Viet Nam offers support for ceasefire in S Ossetia conflict
Posted by Bao Viet Nam on August 15, 2008
HA NOI — Viet Nam welcomed Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s cease-fire declaration as well as efforts by Russia and the international community to seek peaceful solutions to the South Ossetia conflict, including the prevention of the reoccurrence of recent clashes.
“We welcome the principles to deal with the South Ossetia and Abkhazia conflicts reached by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and French President Nicolas Sarkozy on August 12,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Le Dung said at a regular press briefing yesterday.
” Viet Nam regrets the armed conflict in South Ossetia, which caused great losses in property and lives for civilians and Russian peacekeepers,” the spokesperson said.
Archipelago issues
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Le Dung said Vietnam had full historical evidence and legal foundation to affirm its sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes.
The spokesman made the statement at a press briefing in Ha Noi yesterday in reply to a correspondent’s question about Viet Nam ’s reaction to the recent visit to Hoa Lau Island in Viet Nam’s Truong Sa archipelago by the Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister.
The diplomat said Viet Nam and Malaysia, as neighbouring countries and fellow members of the Association of South East Asian Nations, had witnessed fine development in their relations.
He said the two countries agreed to resolve problems arising in their bilateral ties through peaceful negotiations on the basis of equality and respecting each other’s rights and legitimate interests in accordance with laws and international practice, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea. —
