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ASEAN foreign ministers call for dialogue in Ukraine crisis
"We call on all relevant parties to exercise maximum restraint and make utmost efforts to pursue dialogues through all channels, including diplomatic means to contain the situation," the ministers said in a statement dated Saturday.
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Malaysia's Saifuddin Abdullah, Philippines' Teodoro Locsin, Singapore's Vivian Balakrishnan, Cambodia's Prak Sokhonn, Indonesia's Retno Marsudi, Laos' Saleumxay Kommasith and ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi pose for a group photo during the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat in Phnom Penh on February 17, 2022. (AFP/TANG CHHIN Sothy )
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oreign ministers of the 10-member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have called for dialogues among parties concerned in the Ukraine crisis.
"We call on all relevant parties to exercise maximum restraint and make utmost efforts to pursue dialogues through all channels, including diplomatic means to contain the situation," the ministers said in a statement dated Saturday.
Russia launched a military attack against Ukraine on Thursday after recognizing independence of the Eastern European country's Donbas region held by Russia-backed separatists.
"We believe that there is still room for a peaceful dialogue to prevent the situation from getting out of control," the ASEAN ministers said.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin on Sunday said it has warned Ukraine that Russia's military operation would be suspended during any potential talks, the Interfax news agency reported.
Russia earlier said its delegation was ready to meet Ukrainian officials in the Belarusian city of Gomel, a location Kyiv rejected as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Minsk itself was complicit in the Russian invasion, Reuters reported.
Also on Sunday, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko called on Kyiv on Sunday to sit down and hold talks with Russia so that Ukraine does not lose its statehood, Russia's RIA news agency reported.
Russia said on Sunday its delegation was ready to meet Ukrainian counterparts in the Belarusian city of Gomel, but Kyiv said Belarus was complicit in the Russian invasion and could not be regarded as a neutral intermediary.
