Asean-US summit postponed

A summit between US President Joe Biden and leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) due to be held later this month has been postponed and organisers will seek a new date, Cambodia's foreign minister told Reuters on Wednesday.

"It has been postponed to a later date because some Asean leaders cannot attend the meeting on the proposed dates," Minister Prak Sokhonn said in a text message. Cambodia is the current chair of Asean.

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The United States had announced the summit would be held on March 28 and 29.

But Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen suggested this week that the meeting should be delayed after some Asean countries had asked for it to be held two days earlier.

Indonesia, which is the coordinator of the summit, did not immediately confirm the postponement after an official earlier said options for the schedule were still being discussed.

After Hun Sen's comment, a State Department spokesperson said on Monday that Biden was looking forward to welcoming Asean leaders to Washington and the United States was "working closely with Asean to plan a successful event."