NDO/VNA – President Nguyen Xuan Phuc has urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant ministries and sectors to give the highest priority to protecting Vietnamese citizens in Ukraine, in the context of the escalating conflict there.

During a meeting on March 6 with their representatives, the leader stressed that the spirit of humanity and responsibility are very urgent now.

The guiding spirit of the Party, State and the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat is to protect Vietnamese people in war zones, he stated, stressing that the Party and State always pay great attention to the work.

The President applauded the Government's plan to conduct free flights bringing Vietnamese citizens with difficult circumstances in Ukraine back home, with priority to women, children and the elderly.

For those who stay, they must be evacuated from war zones to safe places, he said.

During the meeting, President Phuc also spoke highly of efforts made by OVs abroad to support their countrymen in Ukraine.

Following the direction of the Party Central Committee’ Secretariat, the Government established a special working group to deal with issues related to the situation in Ukraine, led by Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh, and the Prime Minister has issued an official document on protecting Vietnamese citizens and legal entities.

According to Vietnamese Ambassador to Ukraine Nguyen Hong Thach, the embassy has coordinated with relevant agencies to support and take all Vietnamese expats who wish to be evacuated out of war zones.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that many expats in Ukraine have also moved to safe places such as neighboring countries Poland, Hungary, and Bulgaria.

By March 6, about 400 Vietnamese people that were evacuated from Ukraine to Romania and over 1,000 to Poland wished to return to Vietnam.

Relevant agencies are to organise the first flights to bring OVs in the two countries home on March 8-9.