JAKARTA (Reuters) -&nbsp;Defence&nbsp;ministers and&nbsp;officials&nbsp;from the United States,&nbsp;China, Russia and&nbsp;Southeast&nbsp;Asia&nbsp;gathered in Indonesia on Thursday for a&nbsp;meeting where they are expected to discuss geopolitical&nbsp;crises&nbsp;in and outside the region.
Defence&nbsp;ministers in&nbsp;Southeast&nbsp;Asia's regional bloc ASEAN called on Wednesday for a ceasefire in Gaza and a durable solution in Myanmar, as conflicts are deepening there.
"Indonesia is of the view that the region's multiple security issues, ranging from traditional and non-traditional threats, can only be solved by extensive open and inclusive global&nbsp;collaboration," Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia's&nbsp;defence&nbsp;minister said in an opening speech on Thursday.
Prabowo did not mention any specific issues in the speech, but he named on Wednesday the South&nbsp;China&nbsp;Sea, the Korean Peninsula and Myanmar as "hot spots that can destabilise the region."
Among those attending are U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Russia's Deputy&nbsp;Defence&nbsp;Minister Alexander Fomin and Jing Jianfeng,&nbsp;China's deputy chief of staff of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission.
Other countries participating on Thursday are Australia, New Zealand and others, while Myanmar is absent.
Myanmar's generals have been barred from high-level&nbsp;meetings of the 10-member ASEAN since they seized power in a 2021 coup and unleashed violence on those who challenged their takeover.
The&nbsp;meeting comes as U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met on Wednesday on the outskirts of San Francisco, where they agreed to resume military-to-military communications and work to curb fentanyl production.
Indonesia and Malaysia have also called for a ceasefire in the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Visiting Washington this week, Indonesian President Joko Widodo pressed Biden to do more to end Israel's war with Hamas.
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(Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Editing by Lincoln Feast)

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US, China, Southeast Asia defence officials meet amid crises