Myanmar’s ruling military has been uncooperative and has frustrated everyone in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with its lack of progress in implementing a peace plan, Malaysia’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah in a news conference on the sidelines of an ASEAN meeting in Cambodia said the peace process should be inclusive of the junta’s opponents and its implementation should also involve international organizations. 

Foreign ministers of ASEAN are expected to hold meetings in the coming week with their counterparts from several countries including Russia, despite the war raging in Ukraine for over five months after Russian forces invaded the neighboring nation. 

Asked whether there were moves to exclude Russia from meetings with the regional bloc, Philippine Assistant Foreign Secretary for ASEAN Affairs Daniel Espiritu said such efforts were taken by partners outside ASEAN “from the very start,” but that the regional bloc decided against this, choosing instead to serve as a venue for dialogue.

“In ASEAN, we don’t want to escalate tensions. We want to find a way to de-escalate whatever conflict or tensions there are between not only ASEAN countries, but external partners. We are all dedicated to peace in the region,” said Espiritu.

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The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will be forced to reconsider a peace plan agreed with Myanmar if the country’s military rulers conduct more executions of prisoners, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Wednesday, August 3. 

The 10-nation bloc had been pushing for Myanmar to adhere to a five-point peace “consensus” it agreed to last year and has condemned the recent execution of four democracy activists by the junta.

Hun Sen said that ASEAN’s unity had been challenged by the political and security implications of the crisis in Myanmar, which has spiralled into an economic and humanitarian crisis.

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Since the ASEAN’s establishment in 1967, the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) is a mandatory forum that is conducted for all members of the organization to discuss political and security cooperation within Southeast Asia.

It is held at least four times a year in one of the ten member states. While the agenda of the meeting varies, the AMM is a major opportunity for leaders to convene on issues relating to diplomatic relations, trade, regional security, human rights, and other matters of international concern.

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Myanmar will not be represented at an international gathering of foreign ministers in Cambodia this week, a spokesperson for the ASEAN chair said on Monday, August 1, after its military rulers declined a proposal to send a non-junta representative instead.

The Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN has since late last year barred the Myanmar junta from joining its meetings due to its lack of progress in implementing an ASEAN peace plan its generals agreed to after a coup in February 2021.