The U.S. will fully lift its 40-year embargo on lethal arms sales to Vietnam, President Obama said Monday during a visit to the country. The president said the decision reflected an evolving relationship between the two nations, nearly four decades after the Vietnam War ended. Obama denied the move was to help bolster the Vietnam’s security amid China’s increasing attempts to control the South China Sea and instead said the latest step “was based on our desire to complete what has been a lengthy process of moving towards normalization with Vietnam.” Obama added that the end of the embargo “will ensure Vietnam has access to the equipment it needs to defend itself and removes a lingering vestige of the Cold War.”
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