Iran war, Myanmar crisis, South China Sea rifts under the spotlight in ASEAN ministerial talks

MANILA, Philippines — Southeast Asia’s top diplomats will express alarm over renewed hostilities in the Middle East when they gather in the Philippine capital Tuesday for talks to be joined by Western and Asian counterparts, including from the United States, China, Russia and the European Union.

Some of the world’s most intractable conflicts, including the latest fighting in Iran, will be high in the agenda of the annual talks held by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations .

The Philippines holds the 11-nation regional bloc’s chairmanship this year and is hosting the three-day talks in Manila.

U.S.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are among the attendees.

Ukraine’s top diplomat, Andrii Sybiha, has been invited to attend a Friday ceremony commemorating a 1976 nonaggression treaty of ASEAN but is not a participant in the ASEAN meetings Lavrov and Rubio will attend.

Rubio and Lavrov have not announced any plans to meet each other or Sybiha while they are in Manila.

Iran war is among ASEAN's top concerns ...