East Asian FMs welcome U.S., Russia's interest to join EAS

Foreign ministers attending the East Asia Summit (EAS) Foreign Ministers' Informal Consultations here Wednesday welcomed the interest expressed by the United States and Russia to join EAS.

The ministers expressed their support for the United States and Russia's willingness to become EAS members and would recommend to the ASEAN leaders for a formal decision on the joining of the two countries at the 17th ASEAN Summit to be held later this year, said the meeting's spokesperson Tran Ngoc An at a news briefing here.

EAS is a forum held annually by leaders from the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.

At Wednesday's foreign ministers' meeting, the ministers also discussed the preparation for the fifth East Asia Summit later this year and agreed to deepen coordination in global efforts to address global challenges such as financial crisis and climate change, according to An.

The foreign ministers adopted a Chair Statement to brief the major outcomes of the meeting as well, according to An.

Source: Xinhua