President Nguyen Xuan Phuc receives friends from the United States on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Agent Orange/dioxin disaster in Vietnam. (Photo: VNA)

President Phuc, who is in New York for the 76th UN General Assembly session, received US friends of Vietnam led by Merle Ratner, Coordinator of the US-based Vietnam Agent Orange (AO) Relief and Responsibility Campaign, on Tuesday.

He highly appreciated the US’s commitment and support in dealing with war consequences and expressed his hope that the US friends would continue to support the friendship and cooperation between the two countries, especially in dealing with the consequences of Agent Orange/dioxin.

Ms. Ratner said that she has worked hard for many years to lobby the US Government to fulfill its responsibility toward Agent Orange/dioxin victims in Vietnam, by assisting the victims in all aspects, from health care and vocational training to dioxin remediation. She assured Mr. Phuc that she would continue to do all she can to support Vietnamese Agent Orange/dioxin victims in the future.

Merle Ratner is an American citizen born in New York. She used to take to the streets to protest against the Vietnam War when she was 13. She is currently the Coordinator of the US-based Vietnam Agent Orange (AO) Relief and Responsibility Campaign.