The meeting, disclosed by Saifuddin in a Twitter post late on Saturday, was held on the sidelines of a two-day summit in Washington DC between the US and Asean, which excluded Myanmar’s leader over a military coup last year.
Myanmar has repeatedly called for countries not to engage with the NUG, a group of members from the ousted administration, and other military opponents that the junta has labelled as “terrorists”.
In his Twitter post, Saifuddin said Malaysia “stands ready to work towards restoring peace and democracy in Myanmar” during an informal meeting with NUG foreign minister Zin Mar Aung.
“We took the opportunity to exchange views on the latest developments in Myanmar, where minister Zin shared insights as well as challenges faced by NUG, including humanitarian assistance, technical training, and education for Myanmar refugees,” he said.
A spokesman for Myanmar’s military rulers did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment on the meeting.
Myanmar’s foreign ministry in a statement, however, denounced reports of engagements in Washington between the United States state department and NUG officials, and said it had sent protest notes to all Asean countries and the US asking them to refrain from talking to the opposition government.
The ministry also said it rejected a paragraph contained in a 28-page joint statement released by the US and Asean, which had called for the timely implementation of a five-point peace plan agreed to by Myanmar.
The ministry said the language used in the paragraph suggested interference in Myanmar’s domestic affairs and included references to matters within its sovereign jurisdiction, “including unacceptable proposals that go beyond the Five Point Consensus.”
On Friday, US deputy secretary of state Wendy R Sherman said she had met with NUG foreign minister Zin “to show support for all who are working to restore Myanmar’s path to inclusive democracy”.
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