The United States is looking at more actions against Myanmar's junta to press its generals to return the country to a democratic path, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Malaysia on Wednesday.
"The situation has not improved," Blinken said at a joint press conference with his Malaysian counterpart Saifuddin Abdullah after their meeting in Putrajaya, the federal administrative capital.
"I think it's going to be very important in the weeks and months ahead to look at what additional steps and measures we can take individually, collectively to pressure the regime to put the country back on a democratic trajectory."
Following a February military coup that ousted a democratically elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, Washington has so far focused on imposing sanctions on Myanmar military officials and their family members as well as military-related entities.
But there are growing calls for other sanctions, such as those targeting the oil and gas funds on which activists say the junta relies.
Blinken said the United States is also looking "very actively" at whether Myanmar's treatment of the Rohingya ethnic minority group constituted genocide, a determination that could allow Washington to push for more actions.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations' own efforts to help solve the crisis in one of its members have made little progress, with the dispatch of a special envoy to meet with "all parties concerned" not yet realized.
Saifuddin said the Myanmar issue will be discussed during a meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers in Cambodia next month.
Malaysia is the second leg of Blinken's first trip to Southeast Asia since U.S. President Joe Biden took office in January. After visiting Indonesia and Malaysia, he visits Thailand.
The visit comes as Washington is seeking deeper engagement in Southeast Asia amid heightened rivalry with China.
Blinken confirmed at the press conference that Biden has invited ASEAN leaders to a special summit next year.
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