By Peter Nicholas | NBC News
President Joe Biden on Saturday began a week-long series of meetings with foreign counterparts during which he will cast the U.S. as a solid and reliable friend of Asian leaders who are unnerved by North Korea’s nuclear program and China’s influence in the region.
In brief remarks at the start of a conference of Southeast Asian nations, Biden made clear that he also wants to use the summit to rally regional allies and pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war with Ukraine.
“Together we will tackle the biggest issues of our time, from climate to health security, defend against the significant threats to rule-based order and to threats to the rule of law,” Biden said at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.
“We will also discuss Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine and our efforts to address the war’s global impacts including in Southeast Asia,” the president added.
After arriving in Cambodia, he met privately with the country’s prime minister, Hun Sen, and thanked him for the nation’s decision to co-sponsor United Nations resolutions in support of Ukraine. Biden told the prime minister that he appreciated his “clear condemnation” of Russia’s invasion.
On Sunday, Biden will meet jointly with two valued allies, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol. They are expected to discuss the nuclear threat from North Korea, whose repeated missile tests have sent residents in both countries scurrying to bomb shelters for safety.