WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden will have “private time” with each in a group of visiting Southeast Asian leaders during a summit this week in Washington, a senior U.S. administration official said on Wednesday.
The official also told reporters on a call that discussions were underway with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) about the possibility of having an empty chair represent Myanmar at the summit.
ASEAN has barred Myanmar’s junta from attending its summits until it sees progress in a five-point “consensus” agreed last year in hopes of ending violence that has erupted since generals seized power and detained the country’s democratically elected leaders.
(Reporting by Michael Martina and Steve Holland, Editing by Franklin Paul)
