Secretary of State Marco Rubio is among the attendees.
Front row, from left, Thailand Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow, Timor-Leste Foreign Minister Bendito dos Santos Freitas, Vietnam Deputy Foreign Minister Dang Hoang Giang, Philippines Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro, Singapore Permanent Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert Chua, Brunei Foreign Minister Erywan Yusof, Cambodia Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, and Indonesia Director General for ASEAN Cooperation Ina Hagniningtyas Krisnamurthi clap after posing for a photo with representatives from the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights Representatives during the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting at the Philippine International Convention Center, Monday July 20, 2026 in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines.
and call for the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz when they gather in the Philippine capital Tuesday for talks with Western and Asian counterparts. Iran and some of the world’s most intractable conflicts will be high in the agenda of the annual talks held by thetop diplomat, Andrii Sybiha, has been invited to attend a Friday ceremony commemorating a 1976 nonaggression treaty of ASEAN, but will not be participating in the ASEAN meetings attended by Lavrov and Rubio.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters before departing from Joint Base Andrews, Md. , Sunday, July 19, 2026, to the Philippines to attend the ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting and other related meetings. Police guard outside the venue of the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, Post-Ministerial Conferences, and the 50th Anniversary of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia on Monday, July 20, 2026, in Manila, Philippines.
Police patrol outside the venue of the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, Post-Ministerial Conferences, and the 50th Anniversary of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia on Monday, July 20, 2026, in Manila, Philippines. Police patrol outside the venue of the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, Post-Ministerial Conferences, and the 50th Anniversary of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia on Monday, July 20, 2026, in Manila, Philippines.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters before departing from Joint Base Andrews, Md. , Sunday, July 19, 2026, to the Philippines to attend the ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting and other related meetings.
Southeast Asia, a bustling region of more than 680 million people, relies heavily on Middle East oil and gas and“We underscored the importance of maintaining regional peace, stability and prosperity, upholding international law … including the need for a complete and immediate cessation of hostilities across all fronts in the Middle East,” the ministers said in a draft statement of concern, which was seen by The Associated Press.
“We acknowledged the further implications of the continued tensions in the Middle East on regional trade, energy and food security, including energy markets and supply chains, agricultural production,” said the statement, which will be made public after their meeting. The ministers “called for the restoration of the safe, unimpeded and continuous transit passage of vessels and aircraft in the Strait of Hormuz.
”Rubio’s attendance in the ASEAN meetings was apparently aimed at dispelling concerns that the war in the Middle East would deter the U.S. from focusing on the Indo-Pacific, especially China’s actions in the disputed South China Sea and its pressure on Taiwan.
“The secretary’s visit advances a clear U.S. priority: a free and open Indo-Pacific that delivers safety, security and prosperity for the region and for the American people,” State Department spokesperson Thomas Pigott said in Washington. Rubio is also expected to meet member of the Quad, which consists of the U.S., India, Japan and Australia, and is seen as a major component of the American strategy to counter China.
It has been repeatedly criticized by Beijing as a U.S. scheme to contain its growing influence. The foreign ministers have been under growing pressure to do more to help resolve the conflicts in their own region, primarily the civil war inSince Myanmar’s army wrested power from the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, more than 8,100 people have been killed and nearly 22,500 remained in detention, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a rights-monitoring group.issued by ASEAN leaders in 2021 has failed to end the violence, mainly due to non-compliance by its military-backed government.
The bloc has banned the country’s leaders and foreign minister from attending its top-level meetings, including this week’s meetings in Manila. In a bid to break the impasse, the foreign ministers, led by the Philippine’ Theresa Lazaro, met their Myanmar counterpart for the first time in five years this month in Bangkok, where they renewed calls for an end to the violence and renewed efforts to foster dialogue.
Rights groups criticized the meeting, saying it effectively abandoned the bloc’s ban on engaging the country’s senior officials and rewarded the generals without extracting any concession.
“It was not and should not be mischaracterized as an abandonment of the five-point consensus,” Lazaro said, referring to the peace plan. “The path to peace can only be obtained through resolute diplomacy with all parties to the conflict.
” The ministers will meet Wang Yi in Manila to discuss the status of negotiations between China and the regional bloc on a proposed pact called a “code of conduct,” which aims to prevent territorial disputes in the South China Sea from spiraling out of control.involve China, Taiwan and ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, but confrontations in the disputed waters have particularly spiked between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and naval forces in recent years.
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