Russia backs ASEAN plan on tackling post-coup turmoil in Myanmar

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says Moscow strongly supports the Southeast Asian diplomatic efforts to end the post-coup crisis engulfing Myanmar.

During a joint press briefing with his Indonesian counterpart, Retno Marsudi, in Jakarta on Tuesday, Lavrov said that Moscow considered the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)’s position “a basis for restoring the situation back to normalcy” in Myanmar.

The top Russian diplomat said that the five-point consensus agreed between and ASEAN and Myanmar’s junta leader Min Aung Hlaing in April should be the basis on which the situation can be resolved.

“In our contacts with Myanmar leaders, military leaders, we promote the position of ASEAN, which should be in our view, considered as a basis for resolving this crisis and bringing the situation back to normalcy,” Lavrov said.

“We reiterated our strong support for the ASEAN’s five principles,” he added.

For his part, Marsudi emphasized the importance of following up on the five-point consensus and asked Russia to support its implementation.

“This requires the commitment of Myanmar’s military to cooperate with other ASEAN member countries,” she said.

The ASEAN effort calls for violence to end immediately and for the start of constructive dialogue to find a peaceful solution “in the interests of the people.” It was also agreed that a special envoy of the ASEAN chairperson will mediate in the talks.

But the bloc's most outspoken members, including Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, have been frustrated by the Myanmarese military’s lack of action.

Myanmar’s junta chief attended the ASEAN summit in Indonesia on April 24. The summit was the first coordinated international effort to ease tensions in Myanmar since the junta deposed de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and imprisoned her along with other political leaders. ASEAN leaders had wanted a commitment from Min Aung Hlaing to restrain his security forces.

SS