Blinken to make a stop before G7 meeting

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Vietnam this week, Senator Jeff Merkley told a news conference in Hanoi, as part of Washington’s efforts to move diplomatic relations with Hanoi on to a higher level this year.

Blinken’s visit, which has not yet been officially announced, would come after US President Joe Biden had a phone call last week with the chief of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong.