2010-10-29 17:05

HANOI - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Friday announced its decision to formally invite leaders of Russia and the United States to participate in the annual East Asia Summit (EAS) starting from 2011.

In a Chairman's Statement of the 17th ASEAN Summit released on Friday, the bloc said that the decision was made after having consulted with non-ASEAN participants of the EAS.

The 17th ASEAN Summit was held on Thursday, which was attended by leaders of the ten-member bloc, except for Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who had to cut short his trip due to the natural disasters occurred in his country.

Meanwhile, the bloc also stressed the importance of maintaining ASEAN's centrality, the EAS established objectives, principles, modalities as well as current agenda and priorities in the statement.

"We shared the view that the EAS should also focus on consolidation and reflection following the admission of the Russia Federation and the United States of America," it said in the statement.

The Fifth East Asia Summit (EAS) will be held?in Hanoi?on Saturday, back-to-back with the 17th ASEAN Summit and other related summits. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton were scheduled to attend this year's EAS as special guests.

The current EAS will draw leaders of 16 countries including ten ASEAN members and six dialogue partners namely China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The regional bloc also stated that it will continue to broaden and deepen relations with its dialogue partners through various action plans and cooperation programs.