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Washington wants to buy South Korean artillery shells to send to Ukraine, a U.S. official said on Friday, even as Seoul insisted that the United States must be the ammunition's end user and that its policy against lethal aid for Ukraine is unchanged.

The U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations, confirmed that Washington wanted to send South Korean 155mm artillery shells to Ukraine.

The official said that Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) funds could be used to purchase the ammunition, but that it was unclear whether it would be shipped though U.S. territory.

South Korea's defence ministry, however, said that its position of not providing lethal aid to Ukraine is unchanged and that the negotiations are being conducted "under the premise that the U.S. is the end user."

"In order to make up for the shortage of 155mm ammunition inventories in the U.S., negotiations are ongoing between the U.S. and Korean companies to export ammunition," the ministry said in a statement.

The U.S. official warned that news of the talks could threaten the deal.

A U.S. ally, South Korea has sought to avoid antagonizing Russia, both for economic reasons and because of the influence that Moscow can exert with North Korea.

Citing U.S. officials familiar with the deal, the Wall Street Journal said the agreement would involve 100,000 rounds of 155mm artillery rounds that would be delivered to Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called on South Korea to provide weapons, which he said would be "indispensable".

Last month South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said Seoul has not provided any lethal weapons to Ukraine, after Russian President Vladimir Putin said such a decision would destroy bilateral relations.

U.S. National Security spokesperson John Kirby said last week that Washington had information that North Korea was covertly supplying Russia with a "significant" number of artillery shells of its own for use in Ukraine.

Moscow and Pyongyang have denied any arms shipments. (Reuters)

U.S. President Joe Biden hopes to limit deterioration of ties with China when he meets its leader Xi Jinping next week, but will be honest about U.S. concerns, including over Taiwan and human rights, a senior administration official said on Thursday.

"The president believes it is critical to build a floor for the relationship and ensure that there are rules of the road that bound our competition," the official told reporters in a call on the meeting.

The White House said Biden will hold talks on Monday with Xi on the sidelines of a Group of 20 nations summit in Indonesia, their first face-to-face meeting since Biden became president in January 2021.

Biden, asked as he left the White House on Thursday evening if he believed the talks would be productive, responded: "I always think my conversations are productive."

Biden and Xi last met in person during the Obama administration, and U.S. ties with China have since sunk to their lowest level in decades, most notably since U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's August trip to Taiwan, the self-governed democratic island that Beijing claims as its territory.

China is Washington's main strategic rival and the world's second-largest economy after the United States. Biden has been seeking stable relations with Beijing despite tensions over Taiwan, the South China Sea, trade and a host of other issues.

The senior administration official said there would be no joint statement from a meeting at which there are no expectations for specific agreements.

"I expect the president will be honest about a number of our concerns, including PRC (People's Republic of China) activity that threatens peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, as well as our longstanding concerns about human rights violations," the official said.

Russia's war in Ukraine and the issue of North Korea would likely be discussed, the official said.

Biden said on Wednesday that he was unwilling to make any fundamental concessions when he meets Xi, and that he wanted both leaders to lay out their "red lines" and resolve areas of conflict, including on Taiwan.

The White House sought to maintain dialogue that China decided to cut off after Pelosi's visit in such areas as climate and military-to-military communications, the official said, but there was no expectation the two leaders would be able to sit down and solve all problems.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters later that the administration would brief Taiwan on the results of Biden's meeting with Xi, aiming to make Taipei feel "secure and comfortable" about U.S. support.

NORTH KOREA LEVERAGE

Sullivan said the United States remained concerned about the possibility of North Korea resuming nuclear bomb testing for the first time since 2017.

The day before Biden meets Xi in Bali, the U.S. leader will hold talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol on the sidelines of regional meetings in Cambodia to discuss how to stem North Korea's nuclear program.

U.S. officials have accused both China and Russia of enabling Pyongyang's missile and bomb programs by failing to properly enforce U.N. Security Council sanctions intended to impede them. read more read more

While China and Russia backed toughened sanctions after North Korea's last nuclear test, in May they vetoed a U.S.-led push to impose more U.N. penalties over its renewed ballistic missile launches.

The United States believes China and Russia have leverage to persuade North Korea not to resume nuclear bomb testing.

"This is an area where China and the United States have had a history of working together ... there is a track record of being able to work together. And so I think the president will approach the conversation in that spirit," the official briefing reporters said.

Washington also had taken note of Xi's "important" remarks about non-use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine after Xi agreed during a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz last week that both leaders opposed their use, the official added.

Ukraine's Western allies have accused Russia of threatening to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, though Russia denies doing so, and China has refrained from criticizing Russia for the invasion or from calling on it to withdraw its troops.

For Xi, who cemented his leadership at a Communist Party Congress last month, the meeting with Biden takes place as China's economy struggles with strict COVID-19 measures.

Those measures, and Xi's limited travel abroad since the pandemic began, have meant his previous five meetings with Biden were conducted virtually.

The U.S. official said the two sides were discussing COVID-19 protocols for the meeting but did not elaborate.

Bonnie Glaser, an Asia expert at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, said the meeting was an opportunity to dial down tension, and China had been signaling that it wanted to avoid a further deterioration in relations.

"But it is unclear what they are willing to do to achieve that," she said. "The Biden administration has been pushing for talks on risk-reduction measures since mid-2021, and the PRC hasn't been interested." (Reuters)

Southeast Asian heads of government on Friday issued a "warning" to Myanmar to make measurable progress on a peace plan or risk being barred from the bloc's meetings, as social and political chaos escalates in the country.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) said that after "little progress" on the five-point peace consensus agreed jointly last year, leaders concluded a need for "concrete, practical and measurable indicators with a specific timeline."

It added that ASEAN would review Myanmar's representation at all levels of meetings, having barred its military leaders from top meetings since last year. Myanmar's chair sat empty at Friday's summit in Phnom Penh.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, who last week said the junta is solely to blame for the failing peace process, said Friday's statement sent "a strong message or even a warning to the junta".

The military government's foreign ministry on Friday issued an objection to the ASEAN statement, saying it would not follow its recommendations. It has previously blamed lack of progress on the pandemic and obstruction from armed resistance movements.

Political, social and economic chaos have gripped Myanmar since the military overthrew an elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi last year and unleashed a deadly crackdown on dissent that unravelled years of tentative moves towards democracy.

ASEAN, which has a long-standing tradition of non-interference in members' sovereign affairs, has ruled out Western-style sanctions against Myanmar or expelling it from the 10-member group, even as it condemns increasingly violent actions by the junta such as the executions of democracy activists and an air strike that killed at least 50 people.

Some activists said ASEAN's decision on Friday did not go far enough.

"The fact that ASEAN still hasn't suspended the junta's participation throughout the entire ASEAN system represents a continued lack of leadership on this issue and tacit permission for the junta to continue its crimes," said Patrick Phongsathorn of Fortify Rights.

GLOBAL TENSIONS

After holding their own closed-door talks, ASEAN leaders also discussed other tensions in the region, including the Korean peninsula and Taiwan, with global leaders including Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol in separate meetings.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are scheduled to hold discussions with the group on Saturday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will also attend some meetings.

Cambodian Prime Minister and ASEAN host Hun Sen addressed Friday's opening ceremony with a call for vigilance and wisdom during times of economic and geopolitical turmoil.

"We are now at the most uncertain juncture; the lives of millions in our region depend on our wisdom and foresight," he said.

Separately at the summit, ASEAN agreed in principle to admit East Timor as the group's 11th member. Asia's youngest democracy started the process of accession in 2002, but only formally applied for membership in 2011. (Reuters)

Thousands of people gathered in Warsaw on Friday for an annual march organised by the far-right to mark Independence Day, with a handful carrying white supremacist or anti-gay rights banners and firing off red flares.

Marchers, including families with children as well as representatives of far-right groups, waved white and red Polish flags and chanted "God, Honour, Homeland" as they walked through central Warsaw amid a heavy police presence.

The annual event has become a point of friction between far-right groups and supporters of the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) government of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on one side, and their liberal opponents on the other.

Since it came to power in 2015, PiS has sought to instill more conservative, traditional family values in public life, including the introduction of a near-total ban an abortion. Critics at home and abroad have accused it of fomenting homophobia during election campaigns.

"Poland will be independent only if everybody's rights to life are equal and abortion is fully banned," said one participant, Magorzata Kurzeja, 42, an anti-abortion activist.

The Warsaw city hall has made numerous attempts in the past to delegalize the event, but the Independence March association, the organizer, has successfully challenged court decisions. (Reuters)