Lavrov will lead the Russian delegation to the summit – the first such meeting since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February – after the Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin was too busy to attend. Ukraine is set to dominate the agenda with Western leaders likely to publicly confront Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and prompt countries such as China and India – which have previously expressed concerns about the war – to criticize Moscow’s actions. Speaking during a news conference at the conclusion of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Phnom Penh, Lavrov chided the United States for its actions in the region, which both Russia and the West see as a potential strategic geopolitical battlefield in the coming decades. “The United States and its NATO allies are trying to dominate this space,” Lavrov told reporters. He said Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific strategy was an attempt to bypass “inclusive structures” for regional cooperation and would include “the militarization of this region with an obvious focus on containing China and limiting Russian interests in the Asia-Pacific.” Biden told Southeast Asian leaders that Washington was committed to building an “Indo-Pacific that is free and open, stable and prosperous, resilient and secure,” as he outlined a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the United States and the region. Neither the United States nor Russia are members of ASEAN, a 10-member grouping of Southeast Asian nations, but several world leaders attended the talks ahead of next week’s G20 summit in Bali. Russia has sought to foster much closer economic, political and security ties with Asia since the West hit Moscow with unprecedented sanctions in response to its invasion of Ukraine. Putin portrays Russia and China as the leaders of a global rebellion against the post-Soviet global dominance of the United States and the West. The United States views China and Russia as the two main global threats. (Reporting by Jake Cordell Editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
