A rare gathering of top US and Russian diplomats saw world leaders descend on the normally tranquil, temple-lined streets of Vientiane, the capital of Laos.
Before the full summit, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Asean leaders and reiterated his call for freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
Blinken stated, “We remain concerned about China’s increasingly dangerous and illegal actions on the South and East China Seas, which have injured people, harmed vessels from Asean countries, and contradict commitments to peaceful dispute resolution.”
In addition, Blinken issued a warning to China regarding Taiwan, where the new leader gave an annual address last week and pledged that the self-governing democracy would resist annexation.
Blinken stated to reporters, “China should not use it in any way as a pretext for provocative actions.”
Hostility between the US and Russia Despite disagreements, tensions between China and the United States have significantly decreased over the past year, with President Joe Biden supporting dialogue to lessen the likelihood of conflict.
Biden and his political beneficiary VP Kamala Harris, who both skirted the culmination in front of races, have adopted an alternate strategy to Russia, accepting Moscow’s conciliatory suggestions are unscrupulous.
At the summit, the leaders of South Korea and India separated Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov from one another. Blinken said he didn’t address Lavrov however that neither left when the other tended to the culmination.
“I believe any reasonable person would agree that we heard one another. Blinken stated, “Unfortunately, I did not hear anything new about the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine.”
According to Lavrov, the United States of America was “destructive” in Asia.
He also criticized Japan’s “militarization,” in which the country’s security-conscious new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has previously advocated for an Asian pact similar to NATO with the unstated goal of preventing China from joining.
Lavrov asserted, “The Japanese are obviously being pushed to such a course by the United States.”
According to the Japanese foreign ministry, Ishiba met with Premier Li Qiang on his first overseas trip since taking over and expressed “serious concerns” regarding the “intensification of Chinese military activities in areas surrounding Japan.”
During a meeting on Asean on Thursday, Li veiledly criticized Ishiba and warned of the danger posed by “attempts to introduce bloc confrontation and geopolitical conflicts into Asia.”
EU chief Charles Michel called for disputes in the South China Sea to be resolved “through peaceful means” in an interview at the summit.
An Asian diplomat stated that the leaders were unable to reach an agreement on a joint statement for the summit due to the wide range of disagreements among the major players regarding international issues, particularly the crisis in the Middle East.
The military-ruled Myanmar participated in the summit for the first time in more than three years. Since its coup, the country has ignored a 2021 Asean plan that calls for dialogue and an immediate end to violence.
In a statement, Asean leaders affirmed the Five-Point Consensus plan and expressed “deep concern” about Myanmar’s course.
While the United States backs Asean diplomacy, it has called for continued pressure on the junta until it shows signs of improvement.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has spoken with the junta in the neighboring nation, expressed support for democracy’s return but stated: Myanmar ought to be involved in this process rather than being left out, in our opinion.
Modi has irritated Washington by declining to back Western approvals on Russia.
