US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday he was open to meeting with his Chinese and Russian counterparts this week while in the Philippines for a gathering of Southeast Asian foreign ministers.
Rubio will attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Manila as Washington seeks to counter Beijing’s expanding regional influence, AFP reports.
His trip comes just days after President Donald Trump accused China of meddling in US elections.
“We’d be open to meeting with them,” Rubio told reporters when asked if talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi or Russia’s Sergei Lavrov were planned. He added: “I would never tell you guys in a press conference what we would raise in meetings like that. Those are delicate matters.”
Rubio previously met Wang on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur last year, and the two also spoke by telephone following Trump’s visit to China in the spring.
The Philippines trip marks Rubio’s first as secretary of state. It comes at a time when regional allies are under economic strain from the renewed US–Iran war.
Calling ASEAN “our primary way of engaging the region,” Rubio said he would take part in a series of bilateral meetings and also join discussions with fellow Quad members India, Japan, and Australia.
