Vietnam urged the United States on Friday to end its "hostile policy" and lift its longstanding trade embargo on Cuba, the foreign ministry said, following this week's rare anti-government protests on the island, Reuters reported.

"The U.S. needs to take concrete steps in the direction of normalizing relations with Cuba for the benefit of the two peoples, contributing to peace, stability and development in the region and the world," ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said in a statement.

The United States lifted its trade embargo against Vietnam in 1994, and relations between former foes have warmed in recent years. The United States is now Vietnam's largest export market.

Hang said Vietnam "believes that Cuba will overcome the current socio-economic difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequences of the embargo".