Vietnam would welcome the United States"accelerating"the lifting of an arms embargo,which would reflect trust between the countries and recognition of its need to defend itself,says the foreign ministry.The comment comes just ahead of a visit by US president Barack Obama on May 22,and amid debate in Washington over whether to remove the weapons embargo,one of the last vestiges of the Vietnam War era.The United States has not indicated publicly it would remove the embargo and has long said such a move would depend on Vietnam showing progress on human rights.