PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) \u2014 Ukraine\u2019s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba pressed Southeast Asian countries for political and material support in\u00a0his county\u2019s fight against Russia, while accusing Moscow on Saturday of playing \u201chunger games\u201d with the world by holding up shipments of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kuleba told reporters on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit that with a\u00a0deal allowing Ukraine to export grain\u00a0and fertilizer due to expire Nov. 19, the world needed to pressure Russia not to object to its extension, saying Ukrainian products were critical in Africa and Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than just continuing the deal, however, Kuleba accused Russian inspectors of \u201cquiet sabotage,\u201d saying they were intentionally dragging their feet in allowing shipments through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not only does Russia have \u201cto remain part of the initiative, it also has to instruct its inspectors to act in good faith and to avoid any measures, any steps, that create obstacles and hinder the export of Ukrainian agricultural goods to the global market,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRussia should \u2014 must \u2014 stop playing hunger games with the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kuleba\u2019s country was invited to the ASEAN summit for the first time this year and\u00a0signed a peace accord\u00a0with the group of nations with a combined population of nearly 700 million people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRussia should \u2014 must \u2014 stop playing hunger games with the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kuleba\u2019s country was invited to the ASEAN summit for the first time this year and\u00a0signed a peace accord\u00a0with the group of nations with a combined population of nearly 700 million people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He spoke on the day U.S. President Joe Biden arrived at the talks, and met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blinken applauded Kuleba\u2019s efforts to keep drumming up assistance, assuring him that \u201csupport is strong around the world\u201d for Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kuleba said it seemed \u201csymbolic\u201d that he had signed a strategic partnership with the U.S. exactly a year before the accord with ASEAN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis just demonstrates how far we have gone after consolidating our position as a country belonging to the West,\u201d Kuleba said, according to a copy of his remarks provided by the U.S. State Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his earlier press conference, Kuleba said he had hoped to meet with China\u2019s foreign minister but was told he would not be present. Kuleba added that Ukraine was maintaining a dialogue with China to push Beijing to \u201cuse its leverage on Russia to make them stop the war. \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia\u2019s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was also on hand at the ASEAN meetings, and Kuelba said if Lavrov asked to meet him, he would be willing to consider the request but accused Russia thus far of using talks as a \u201csmokescreen for its continued aggression on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUkraine will prevail, it\u2019s only a matter of time and the price,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd yes, some gains are being achieved militarily, but some gains of Ukraine will be achieved diplomatically.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, he said, in any talks the \u201cterritorial integrity of Ukraine is not something that can be discussed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In brief opening remarks as he sat down to meet with ASEAN leaders, Biden said he was ready to discuss with them \u201cRussia\u2019s brutal war against Ukraine and our efforts to address the war\u2019s global impacts, including in Southeast Asia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he had made clear to summit participants that it was important to establish the conditions for re-establishing dialogue between Ukraine and Russia, and \u201cprogressively to start looking into a future where peace will prevail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNot any kind of peace,\u201d Guterres said. \u201cPeace based on the values of the U.N. Charter and peace based on international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In other comments, Guterres said the world had failed Myanmar, and expressed hope ASEAN would be able to pressure the member state to comply with its plan for peace over the next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ASEAN leaders agreed on a plan Friday\u00a0that largely puts the onus on Indonesia, when it takes over the group\u2019s rotating chair in 2023, to develop measurable indicators and a timeline for Myanmar to implement the so-called five-point consensus for peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indonesia has been one of the ASEAN countries most outspoken about the need to do more to address the situation in Myanmar, and Guterres told reporters he felt \u201cthe Indonesian government will be able to push forward the agenda in a positive way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ASEAN decision announced Friday includes asking the U.N. and other \u201cexternal partners\u201d for assistance in supporting the group\u2019s efforts. Guterres said he hoped the U.N. special envoy for Myanmar, Noeleen Heyzer, would cooperate closely with her ASEAN counterpart to bring about an end to the \u201cdramatic violations of human rights\u201d in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEverybody has failed in relation to Myanmar,\u201d Guterres said. \u201cThe international community as a whole has failed, and the U.N. is part of the international community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ASEAN\u2019s peace plan calls for the immediate cessation of violence, a dialogue among all parties, mediation by an ASEAN special envoy, provision of humanitarian aid and a visit to Myanmar by the special envoy to meet all sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Myanmar\u2019s military-led government initially agreed to the plan but has made little effort to implement it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) \u2014 Ukraine\u2019s Foreign Minister […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1998,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1997"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1999,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1997\/revisions\/1999"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}