Ukraine boosts Southeast Asia ties with peace accord

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba signed the “Treaty on Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia” as the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations got under way in Phnom Penh.

Ukraine signed a peace accord on November 10 with Southeast Asian nations, a largely symbolic act that comes as Kyiv seeks to shore up international support in isolating Russia.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba signed the “Treaty on Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia” as the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations got under way (ASEAN) in Phnom Penh.

The ASEAN summit kicks off a series of three top-level meetings in Asia, with the Group of 20 summit in Bali to follow and then the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Bangkok. They come as Russia seeks new markets for its energy products to avoid Western sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine.

As a group, the ASEAN nations, with a combined population of nearly 700 million, have been reserved in their stance toward the invasion, condemning the war but generally trying to avoid assigning blame. Eight of 10 ASEAN countries did vote in favor of the U.N. General Assembly resolution condemning Russian aggression, with Vietnam and Laos abstaining.

Member state Singapore has taken the strongest stance, imposing unilateral sanctions on Russia, while Cambodia has been increasingly supportive of Ukraine in its ASEAN chairmanship.

In an early November call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Cambodian President Hun Sen stressed the need for an end to the war “so that Ukraine can regain peace, stability, territorial integrity and development,” according to Hun Sen's office.

“Cambodia is against the aggression, the threat of or use of force over sovereignty and the territorial integrity of an independent state, and does not support the secession or the annexation of territory by other countries," Hun Sen said on the call.