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)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Since U.S.-brokered talks began in March, Ukraine’s strategy has been to convince the Trump administration that Vladimir Putin is unreliable, and that Kyiv is serious about peace.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has few options, analysts and officials say, but to draw U.S. President Donald Trump’s ire against Putin while depending on the united and stalwart support of European allies.
In the latest round, Zelenskyy not only accepted Putin's offer to hold direct talks in Turkey, after the United States endorsed the idea, but raised the stakes and challenged the Russian leader to a face-to-face. The gesture failed to move Putin and the Istanbul talks were demoted to a technical meeting on Friday that failed to yield substantial results on ending the war.
The U.S. has expressed frustration with the stalled talks and threatened to withdraw if results aren’t achieved. On Friday, Trump told reporters after boarding Air Force One to return to Washington from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, that he may call Putin soon.
“He and I will meet, and I think we’ll solve it, or maybe not,” Trump said. “At least we’ll know. And if we don’t solve it, it’ll be very interesting.”
All along, Zelenskyy's message, directed at the Trump administration, has been: The Russian leader cannot be trusted.
It's a rhetorical game of pingpong in which both Kyiv and Moscow try to outmaneuver the other vis-à-vis the U.S. But the political theatrics are underscored by stark realities on the ground. In this war of attrition against Russia's invasion, Ukraine’s position is poised to grow weaker as time goes on, unless powerful sanctions are imposed against Moscow and the U.S. continues arms deliveries.
“He is in a difficult situation because behind him is a whole nation of people who are suffering,” said Oleksandr Merezkho, a lawmaker in Zelenskyy’s party. “We are playing (along), we are trying to do everything we can because we don’t want to lose the support of the U.S. We don’t want to be accused that it was our fault.”
Putin’s no-show did not result in a strong reaction from Trump, which frustrated Ukrainian officials.
“It looks surreal, weird when Ukraine is complying to everything required from us, and Putin ignores, rejects,” said Merezhko. “It looks very imbalanced, it looks unfair for Ukraine.”
Since March, Zelenskyy has made a point of showing Ukraine's willingness to acquiesce to U.S. demands to avoid alienating Trump, his most powerful ally.
Kyiv hoped Russia’s unwillingness to do the same would, in time, provoke the U.S. to unleash powerful sanctions and cripple Moscow’s war machine — the most likely scenario in which Ukraine can hope to weaken Russia and negotiate an advantageous peace deal, analysts said.
Russia’s position has remained mostly consistent. The Kremlin kept repeating that it was ready for peace talks with Ukraine — while making demands that were politically untenable for Zelenskyy, and would require Ukraine to make territorial concessions, neutralize its army and vow never to join NATO.
Throughout the war, Moscow has also accused Kyiv and its Western allies of seeking to prolong the fighting and derailing peace efforts.
Most recently, the Kremlin pushed back against a proposed 30-day ceasefire, countering with two brief unilateral ones, and then accused Ukraine of failing to stop the fighting, painting it as unwilling to silence the guns. At the same time, Russian officials underscore the effort to resolve the conflict is complex.
“We understand that Washington wants to achieve quick success in this process, but at the same time we hope that there is an understanding that the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis is too complicated, there are many questions and details that need to be addressed before the settlement,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters last month.
Ukraine is asking for an unconditional temporary ceasefire, during which time future diplomatic talks can take shape. Zelenskyy also asked for a trust-building gesture, such as the release of prisoners of war, something the two sides agreed to Friday. The exchange of 1,000 prisoners would be their largest swap yet.
But Ukraine has also maintained flexibility in its negotiating position by accepting Trump's proposals to avoid alienating the U.S. president.
“They're desperate to keep the Americans on their side,” said Balazs Jarabik, an analyst specializing in Eastern Europe and Ukraine.
In March, Kyiv agreed to the U.S. proposal for an immediate 30-day ceasefire, which Putin effectively rejected by imposing conditions impossible for Ukraine. In April, Kyiv signed a landmark minerals deal sought by Trump after months of fraught negotiations and a brief pause in military aid.
That is why agreeing to send a delegation to Istanbul, after Trump supported the idea, was a risky move for Zelenskyy. It played into Putin’s aim of drawing Kyiv into talks that had been stalled since the early weeks of Moscow's 2022 invasion.
“We showed that we are for peace negotiations and support Trump’s plan," said Mykola Davydiuk, a Ukrainian political scientist. “Now the ball is with Trump.”
Despite verbal threats from Europe and the U.S., sanctions of the kind that could devastate Russia’s energy sector have not been forthcoming.
Zelenskyy has expressed support for a sanctions package pushed in the U.S. Congress by Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham that could impose 500% tariffs on Russian energy imports. Graham has said he has enough support in the House to bring the sanctions bill to the floor.
For now, Zelenskyy has few options but to continue to highlight Putin’s disinclination to engage in meaningful talks and keep the U.S. engaged.
“If it turns out that the Russian delegation really is just theatrical and can’t deliver any results today, the world must respond,” the Ukrainian leader said at a European summit in Albania on Friday. “There needs to be a strong reaction, including sanctions against Russia’s energy sector and banks. Pressure must continue to rise until real progress is made.”
For Ukrainian soldiers fighting along the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line, the theatricality of the week’s political developments stood in harsh contrast with the grinding war.
“Better to call it a circus,” said a Ukrainian drone operator with the 68th brigade who, like other soldiers, gave only his call sign Goose in line with military protocol.
Analysts say Russia is at a crucial crossroads in the war, where it can negotiate a truce and consolidate gains, or launch a summer military campaign to maximize wins before the onset of winter.
Ukraine has always been at a disadvantage and faces manpower and ammunition shortages. Analysts have offered estimates of six months to two years for how much longer it can hang on.
Much will depend on what kind of support Ukraine receives from partners and how quickly the country can scale up domestic weapons production.
Russian forces recently intensified offensive operations in the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, according to Ukraine’s Southern Defense Forces spokesperson. Soldiers said Russia has a clear aim of reaching the borders of the Dnipropetrovsk region, to be able to claim the capture of two out of four partially occupied territories.
“The feeling is that we will either hold out and allow the political leadership of the country to freeze the conflict along the contact line, or the enemy will break through,” said a Ukrainian soldier with the call sign Corsair Denis in the Sumy region.
Associated Press writer Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this report.
From left, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz make a call to U.S. President Donald Trump from Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, May 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov)
In this handout photo released by Turkish Foreign Ministry, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, center, chairs a meeting between delegations from Russia, right, and Ukraine, left, at Dolmabahce palace in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, May 16, 2025. (Murat Gok/Turkish Foreign Ministry via AP)
Ukrainian servicemen of the 127th Territorial Defence Brigade fire KS-19 100mm gun towards Russian positions near Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Yevhen Titov)
A Ukrainian serviceman of the 127th Territorial Defence Brigade carries a shell to fire KS-19 100mm gun towards Russian positions near Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Yevhen Titov)
