China-U.S. State Visit Talks, Canada-Viet Nam Strategic Partnership and Global Two-State Ministerial

President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump held talks at the White House on September 24. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the two leaders reaffirmed the concept of a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability and discussed trade, artificial intelligence, Taiwan, the Middle East, Ukraine and the Korean Peninsula.

China’s official account said the two countries’ economic and trade teams had reached a new joint arrangement. In a separate September 24 briefing, China’s Ministry of Commerce said the eighth round of bilateral economic and trade consultations produced multiple consensuses covering implementation of existing understandings, reciprocal tariff-reduction arrangements, planned trade and investment boards, extension of the Kuala Lumpur joint arrangement and the first AI dialogue between the two lead negotiators.

Prime Minister Mark Carney and General Secretary and President Tô Lâm elevated Canada-Viet Nam relations to a Strategic Partnership on September 24 during the Vietnamese leader’s state visit to Canada. The partnership is organized around eight pillars spanning political cooperation, trade and investment, supply chains and transport, digital technologies, energy security, food security, defence and maritime security, and people-to-people ties.

Canada and Viet Nam signed or renewed four memoranda covering energy and the clean-energy transition, maritime transport, environmental cooperation and food-safety cooperation. They also expanded their Air Transport Agreement to enable direct passenger and all-cargo services and reiterated support for concluding the Canada-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement.

The Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution convened a ministerial meeting at the United Nations on September 24, with close to 100 states and organisations participating together with the Palestinian Prime Minister and the Board of Peace High Representative for Gaza.

The co-chairs reaffirmed their support for a two-state outcome and linked the New York Declaration, the Comprehensive Peace Plan and UN Security Council Resolution 2803. Their statement called for consolidation of the Gaza ceasefire, disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups, full Israeli withdrawal through verified implementation, support for Palestinian institutions, humanitarian access and coordinated reconstruction financing.

The Council of the European Union formally adopted temporary trade-liberalisation measures for Armenian products on September 24. The EU said the measures were intended to support Armenia’s economy following trade restrictions imposed by Russia.

The arrangement is designed to liberalise around 80 per cent of Armenian exports to the EU by suspending import duties on a broad range of products, including selected agricultural goods. It contains conditions and safeguard provisions and is intended to apply for two years.

The Council approved the eighth regular disbursement under the Ukraine Facility on September 24, clearing nearly €3 billion for Ukraine. Almost €800 million is to come for the first time from the Ukraine Support Loan, with the payment tied to completed reform and investment targets under the Ukraine Plan.

The Council also amended the Ukraine Plan to include a voluntary Norwegian contribution of NOK 1 billion, approximately €92 million, in non-repayable support. Norway becomes the first non-EU country to contribute to Pillar I of the Ukraine Facility.

The United Kingdom hosted a high-level UNGA event on September 24 on behalf of the Coalition for Atrocity Prevention and Justice in Sudan, whose participants include Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the European Union.

The coalition said the growing use of drones was expanding the geographic reach of hostilities and increasing risks to civilians and front-line responders. It called on states and other external actors to stop arming, financing or otherwise enabling the war and urged compliance with the UN Security Council’s 1591 Sudan sanctions regime.