The sea, where $3 trillion worth of trade passes annually, was been a major point of contention at the ASEAN meetings, particularly with Russia and China objecting to a reference to the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, a U.S. official said.

Southeast Asian leaders met in Laos on Wednesday for a summit expected to seek ways address the worsening civil war in Myanmar, with Thailand calling for heightened engagement ahead of a planned election by the country's embattled military rulers.

A wide gap continues to separate the bloc’s Five-Point Consensus peace plan with the aims and intentions of Myanmar’s primary belligerents.

South-east Asian leaders called today for swift agreement on a code of conduct for the South China Sea based on international law, while demanding an

Southeast Asian leaders will meet in Laos this week as Myanmar's civil war and mounting tensions in the South China Sea risk corroding the ASEAN grouping's central role in the region.

Russia and China were alleged to have blocked a proposed consensus statement for the East Asia Summit (EAS) drafted by Southeast Asian countries, mainly over objections to language on the contested South China Sea,