Kualalampur9 minutes ago
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America’s Foreign Minister Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet in Malaysia today.
The two leaders are participating in the ASEAN Regional Forum in Kuala Lumpur, including 10 ASEAN countries as well as big partners like America, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea.
This meeting is taking place at a time when the US has started supply of arms to Ukraine again. Earlier, the Pentagon had stopped supply for some time to review the domestic weapon reserves, which Russia considered its diplomatic victory.
President Donald Trump said in a cabinet meeting on Tuesday,
Putin is not treating humans properly. Many people are losing their lives. Therefore, we have approved Ukraine to send some defense weapons.
Trump took a tough stand against Putin
According to AP report, Trump also attacked Russian President Vladimir Putin at the cabinet meeting. They said,
Putin tells us false things every time. He speaks very sweet, but it does not mean anything.
Trump said that they want to end the war quickly but due to Putin, peace talks are not moving forward.
Trump has warned Russia about restrictions related to the oil industry. He also said that he is considering a proposal under which 500% tariffs will be imposed on countries like India and China buying Russian oil.
US Secretary of State on a tour of Asia for the first time
This is Rubio’s first official visit to Asia. But it is facing a tough challenge due to American tariff threats.
President Trump has recently warned many countries that if they do not make trade agreements with the US, they will be imposed heavy tariffs from August 1. These include 8 out of 10 ASEAN countries.
However, according to the State Department, Rubio’s focus will be on maritime security and trans-national crime in the South China Sea.
Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim warned in a meeting of ASEAN Foreign Ministers that the global trade has now become a weapon and it has become necessary to strengthen regional trade due to the tariff hazards of the US.
ASEAN countries threat of heavy tariffs
According to the report, Trump has sent tariff notices to Brunei and the Philippines on Wednesday. Brunei items will be charged 25% and 20% on the Philippines. Vietnam has recently signed an agreement with 20% tariff, while Singapore was excluded from the first list of April.
Malaysia trade minister Jafarul Aziz has said that he is ready for talks but will not compromise on issues like US government procurement, halal certification, medical standard and digital tax.