Ukraine signs treaty to bolster ties with Southeast Asian bloc

Phnom Penh [Cambodia], November 10 (ANI): Ukraine on Thursday signed the instrument of accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) with ASEAN at its Cambodia Summit in Phnom Penh.
The peace treaty commits parties to "mutual respect for the independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity and national identity of all nations".
Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba signed the Instrument of Accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia to become its 50th member, under the presidency of Cambodia.
"On behalf of Ukraine, today I signed the instrument of accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation with @ASEAN at its Cambodia Summit. I am grateful to ASEAN members, particularly the Cambodian presidency, for supporting this important milestone in our relations with ASEAN," Kuleba tweeted.
He also held a meeting with ASEAN Secretary-General Dato Lim Jock Hoi at the sidelines of the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits and Related Summits.
The signing of the Instrument of Accession to the TAC by seven countries this year is a big milestone during Cambodia's chairmanship of ASEAN, Agence Kampuchea Presse reported, citing a senior Cambodian official.
Kung Phoak, Secretary of State of the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MFAIC), said as the host of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in August, Cambodia received six new partners who signed the TAC and today, there is another one, so this year "we have up to seven."
"This is a big achievement for Cambodia. This means that in one year we have up to seven partners who are members of this treaty. This is not easy to reach," he said at a press briefing this morning.
Kung Phoak said ASEAN is open to all partners, whoever wants to be a partner of ASEAN.
For Ukraine-ASEAN relations, he said now is in the early stage, Ukraine may become a new potential partner for mutually beneficial relations.
Despite the treaty with ASEAN, media reports that ASEAN had failed to agree on allowing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to address the summit by video link from Kyiv.
The 10-member ASEAN bloc has been reserved in their stance towards the Russian invasion, condemning the war but generally trying to avoid assigning blame to Moscow. (ANI)