Overview
- U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar told officials in Manila that an interim U.S.–India trade deal is 'almost complete' and leaders agreed on the need to finalise it.
- Rubio met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday and said the United States is open to playing a role in ending the war in Ukraine if an opportunity to restart talks appears.
- Rubio and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks to manage bilateral tensions and to prepare for President Xi Jinping’s planned U.S. visit in September, with both sides agreeing to make sound preparations for high-level exchanges.
- Regional ministers repeatedly raised the Iran-related fighting and attacks on commercial vessels as a direct economic risk for ASEAN, noting that threats to the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea shipping could push up fuel and freight costs across Southeast Asia.
- The Quad foreign ministers issued a joint statement reaffirming support for a free and open Indo-Pacific and for ASEAN centrality while Rubio pledged the United States will uphold treaty commitments to the Philippines after recent South China Sea altercations.