BANGKOK (AP) — Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and the leader of Myanmar’s military government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, met in the Thai capital on Thursday for talks widely assumed to focus on efforts to restore peace in war-torn Myanmar.
Authorities had said the talks would focus on humanitarian assistance following the massive earthquake in March that devastated Myanmar, and promote the extension of a fragile ceasefire to facilitate aid delivery.
Anwar also met with Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who said they discussed issues of bilateral interest and how nations in the region can respond to the new U.S. tariff policies.
Myanmar's state-run MRTV television reported Thursday night that Min Aung Hlaing and Anwar discussed post-quake aid by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Myanmar-ASEAN cooperation at a meeting also attended by Thailand's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
But the unusual top-level contacts and rare trip abroad by Min Aung Hlaing, as well as the involvement of Thaksin, suggested a more substantive political agenda. Thaksin is an informal chief advisor to Anwar, current chairman of ASEAN.
Thaksin, who is the father of current Prime Minister Paetongtarn and seen as pulling the strings of her government, has focused on back-channel diplomacy to end Myanmar’s conflict.
Anwar posted on the X social platform that he had met Min Aung Hlaing on Thursday evening for “a frank and constructive discussion, focused on the urgent humanitarian needs of the Myanmar people including the immediate deployment of a field hospital as well as the importance of returning the country to normalcy.”
He added that on Friday he would meet with representatives of the shadow National Unity Government, Myanmar's leading resistance group.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in February 2021, leading to armed conflict across the country.
The United Nations last week warned that damage caused by the March 28 quake will cause food shortages and a possible public health emergency, exacerbating the existing humanitarian crisis caused by the civil war that had already displaced more than 3 million people.
Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, a spokesperson for Myanmar’s military government, said on Wednesday that the death toll from the 7.7 magnitude quake had reached 3,725, with 5,106 injured.
Ahead of his Bangkok trip, Anwar announced that he would push for an extension of the soon-to-expire ceasefires declared by the Myanmar army and its foes, pro-democracy resistance forces and ethnic minority armed groups, to ease aid efforts. There was no immediate announcement of such a development.
The U.N. Human Rights Office has accused the military of continuing airstrikes and artillery assaults after the earthquake.
However, some experts have suggested the current ceasefires could turn into a broader peacemaking effort where others have failed.
The 10-member ASEAN, to which Myanmar belongs, agreed soon after the army’s 2021 takeover on a peace plan, but Myanmar’s military government failed to implement it. The regional bloc has since largely barred Min Aung Hlaing and senior members of his ruling council from its high-level meetings.
Min Aung Hlaing’s attendance at the BIMSTEC summit of leaders of nations in Bangkok earlier this month was a rare exception to his limited travel and drew criticism for legitimizing his rule. Thailand has been accused by the opponents of military rule in Myanmar of failing to pressure the generals to make any concessions toward a fair peace.
Thaksin claimed to Thai media that he urged Min Aung Hlaing on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC summit to engage in peace talks with resistance forces. He has said he met separately with ethnic minority groups fighting against the military.
Critics of the military government charge that Min Aung Hlaing’s visit to Bangkok will do more to legitimize the military government that ensure needed aid.
It risks “legitimizing the illegal military coup and reinforcing the regime responsible” for the people's suffering, said a joint statement Wednesday by the opposition’s National Unity Government and other groups battling military rule.
Opponents of the army accuse it of weaponizing aid, and say foreign humanitarian assistance should be delivered outside military channels.
In this photo released by the Thailand's Government Spokesman Office, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, left, shakes hands with Thailand's Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, right, in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Thailand's Government Spokesman Office via AP)
In this photo released by the Thailand's Government Spokesman Office, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, left, meets Thailand's Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, right, at the Government house in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Thailand's Government Spokesman Office via AP)
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) — Russia's delegation arrived in Istanbul for peace talks with Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday, and a Ukrainian official said a delegation including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was on its way the the Turkish capital Ankara.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was not part of the delegation from Moscow, however, according to a list released by the Kremlin Wednesday night, prompting criticism from Western officials that the Kremlin isn't serious about the peace effort.
Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Putin, will lead the Russian delegation that will also include three other senior officials, the Kremlin said. Putin also appointed four lower-level officials as “experts” for the talks.
Earlier this week, Zelenskyy challenged the Russian leader to meet in person in Turkey. Zelenskyy said he would travel to Ankara to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and wait for Putin.
A Ukrainian delegation including Zelenskyy was due to arrive in Ankara on Thursday, a senior Ukrainian official familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
Also in the delegation are Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, and the head of the Ukrainian presidential office Andriy Yermak, the official said.
He spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons as the team had not yet arrived in Ankara.
“Now, after three years of immense suffering, there is finally a window of opportunity," Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said at a NATO meeting taking place separately in Turkey. "The talks in Istanbul hopefully may open a new chapter.”
But Zelenskyy will sit at the table only with Putin, Ukraine’s presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said.
Details about whether, when and where the Ukrainian delegation might meet their Russian counterparts are still unclear but is expected to be clarified after Zelenskyy and Erdogan meet, according to a Ukrainian official who requested anonymity to speak openly about the day’s plan.
Tass said that the talks were to take place in a presidential office on the Bosporus.
Putin on Wednesday evening held a meeting with senior government officials and members of the delegation in preparation for the talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, General Staff chief Valery Gerasimov, and National Security Council secretary Sergei Shoigu attended the meeting, among others.
Kyiv and its European allies had urged the Kremlin to agree to a full, unconditional 30-day ceasefire as a first step toward peace. Putin effectively rejected the proposal, offering direct talks between Russia and Ukraine instead.
The Kremlin billed Thursday’s talks as a “restart” of peace negotiations that were held in Istanbul in the first weeks of the war in 2022 but quickly fell apart. Moscow accused Ukraine and the West of wanting to continue fighting, while Kyiv said Russia’s demands amounted to an ultimatum rather than something both sides could agree on.
Russia's delegation then was also headed by Vladimir Medinsky.
Putin's proposal came after more than three months of diplomacy kickstarted by U.S. President Donald Trump, who promised during his campaign to end the devastating war swiftly. The Trump administration in recent weeks indicated that it might walk away from the peace effort if there was no tangible progress soon.
Trump had pressed for Putin and Zelenskyy to meet in Istanbul but said Thursday he wasn't surprised that Putin was a no-show. He brushed off Putin’s decision to not take part in the talks.
“I didn’t think it was possible for Putin to go if I’m not there,” Trump said during a roundtable in Doha, Qatar
The U.S. and Western European leaders have threatened Russia with further sanctions if there is no progress in halting the fighting.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha met with U.S. State Secretary Marco Rubio and Senator Lindsey Graham in the Turkish city of Antalya late Wednesday night. Antalya on Thursday is hosting NATO foreign ministers to discuss new defense investment goals as the U.S. shifts its focus to security challenges away from Europe.
Sybiha reaffirmed Ukraine’s support for Trump’s mediation efforts and thanked the U.S. for its continued involvement, urging Moscow to “reciprocate Ukraine’s constructive steps” toward peace. "So far, it has not,” Sybiha said.
On Thursday morning, Sybiha also met with other European foreign ministers, including his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot, who in a post on X reiterated the call for a ceasefire and the threat of “massive sanctions” if Russia doesn't comply.
“We’re in a very difficult spot right now, and we hope that we can find the steps forward that provide for the end of this war in a negotiated way and the prevention of any war in the future," Rubio said Thursday.
Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen, also in Antalya for the NATO talks, accused Moscow of not being willing to to engage in a serious peace process.
“We have one chair empty, which is the chair of Vladimir Putin. So now I guess the entire world has realized that there’s only one party not willing to engage in serious peace negotiations, and that certainly is Russia," Valtonen said.
Barrot echoed her sentiment: “In front of Ukrainians there is an empty chair, one that should have been occupied by Vladimir Putin,” he said. “Vladimir Putin is dragging his feet and in all evidence does not want to enter into these peace discussions.”
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Associated Press writers Lorne Cook in Brussels; Illia Novikov and Samya Kullab in Kyiv, Ukraine; Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia; Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey; Matthew Lee in Antalya, Turkey contributed to this report.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting on forthcoming Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul, in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting on forthcoming Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul, in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
