Russia's foreign minister on Sunday accused the United States of driving increased militarisation in Southeast Asia, saying that Washington was trying to contain Beijing and Moscow's influence in the region.

Sergei Lavrov was speaking to reporters at Phnom Penh's airport after attending the East Asia Summit in Cambodia -- and before flying to Bali for the G20 summit where China's leader Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden will meet.

Earlier on Sunday, Biden said he would establish "red lines" with Xi.

Washington is attempting to boost its influence in Southeast Asia, worried by Beijing's increasingly assertive behaviour in the region, which it views as its strategic backyard.

Lavrov accused the United States of pushing the "militarisation of this region, clearly aimed at containing China and limiting Russian interests in the region".

As the Ukraine invasion has ground on, and with Western sanctions biting, Russia has pivoted toward Southeast Asia in an attempt to shore up its battered economy.

Lavrov called Washington's strategy -- which has seen the United States push for closer relations with Southeast Asian nations -- "not inclusive and that compete with the inclusive structures created around ASEAN".

The regional summit in Cambodia has been dominated by international concerns, as first Ukraine and then the US-China rivalry overshadowed local concerns such as Myanmar.

UK's new PM heads to G20 with veiled attack on China
London (AFP) Nov 13, 2022 - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak headed to his debut G20 summit Sunday urging world powers to unite against exploitation of the global economy by "malign actors".

After becoming the UK's third premier this year, Sunak is set to have his first bilateral meetings with US President Joe Biden and other world leaders at the summit in Bali, Indonesia.

Beyond supporting Western unity against Russia over Ukraine, Sunak wants allies to shore up the international financial system including the World Trade Organization, according to Downing Street.

Developing nations must have access to credit for economic growth without becoming reliant on "exploitative" lenders, Sunak is expected to tell the summit, echoing past G7 criticism of China.

The WTO should be reformed to curb the "manipulation of global markets by malign actors", he will also say in another coded critique of G20 member China.

Sunak's pre-summit warnings against Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime have been clearer.

"We will call out Putin's regime, and lay bare their utter contempt for the kind of international cooperation and respect for sovereignty forums like the G20 represent," he said in a statement Saturday.

While Putin is not attending the summit, Sunak's spokesman said the prime minister would confront Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Bali.

Some pundits had queried whether Sunak might go soft on Russia in view of the economic crisis affecting Britain, on the back of surging energy prices.

But Sunak's spokesman told reporters that Britain's support for Ukraine "will not fade or alter".

In Bali, Sunak "will speak with our allies in one voice on this", the spokesman added.

Sunak is due to return to Britain early on Thursday and head straight into his finance minister's presentation of an emergency budget statement.

The statement is expected to include painful tax hikes and spending cuts, after Sunak's short-lived predecessor Liz Truss panicked markets with a spree of unfunded tax cuts.

Sunak said Thursday's budget would "set out how we will get this country on the right path".

"But addressing the biggest economic crisis in a decade will require a concerted effort by the world's largest economies -- these are not problems we can solve alone," he said before flying to Bali.

"At the G20, leaders need to step up to fix the weaknesses in the international economic system which Putin has exploited for years."

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Biden and Xi to meet at G20 summit
Beijing (AFP) Nov 11, 2022
Xi Jinping and Joe Biden will hold talks at next week's G20 summit in Bali, their first face-to-face meeting since the US president took office and just weeks after the Chinese leader secured a landmark third term. The leaders of the world's two biggest economies have spoken by phone multiple times since Biden became president in January 2021. But the Covid-19 pandemic and Xi's subsequent aversion to foreign travel have prevented them from meeting in person. Beijing's foreign ministry said Frida ... read more