The following is attributable to Spokesperson Ned Price:
Deputy Secretary Wendy Sherman met today in Washington with Saleumxay Kommasith, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. The leaders discussed ways to strengthen the U.S.-Laos relationship, including shared interests in affirming ASEAN centrality, regional stability, and cooperation on war legacy issues. The Deputy Secretary thanked Laos for serving as the 2022 Co-Chair for the Mekong-U.S. Partnership, noting that we look forward to continued progress on people-to-people relations, health security, good governance, and sustainability challenges facing the Mekong subregion. Deputy Secretary Sherman also raised Putin’s unprovoked war against Ukraine.