US Holds Second Round of Talks With Myanmar Regime as Concerns Grow Over Policy Shift

U.S. officials held a meeting with Myanmar miliary regime officials in Tokyo last week, Reuters reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the meeting.

It was the second round of talks between the two countries within a month. A U.S. delegation led by Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research Michael Vance visited the regime’s capital Naypyitaw in mid-September.

Vance also led the delegation in Tokyo, which included over a dozen U.S. officials, while the identities of regime representatives and the issues discussed remained undisclosed, according to Reuters.

At the September talks, the U.S. delegation met with coup leader Min Aung Hlaing and secured the release of American businessman Adam Castillo, who had been detained upon returning to Yangon in June 2026 over a lawsuit filed against him.

The U.S. outreach led by Vance has focused on shutting down scam centers that target Americans, but could lead to broader engagement, including on Myanmar’s rare-earth mineral deposits, Reuters reported, citing current and former officials as well as others familiar with the U.S. policy shift.

The Irrawaddy has learned that during the Naypyitaw meeting, the U.S. side urged the regime to reduce attacks on civilians, crack down on money-laundering gangs, engage with ethnic armed groups, release political prisoners and allow unfettered distribution of humanitarian assistance.

Observers noted that the Trump administration has shifted its policy from isolating the Myanmar military-installed government to engaging with it.

The National Unity Government (NUG), a leading anti-regime revolutionary organization, said it was not overly concerned by the increasing engagement between the U.S. and the military junta.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy, NUG Foreign Affairs Minister Zin Mar Aung said the U.S. is engaging with both sides—the military regime and the revolutionary groups—purely based on promoting its own interests, without granting legitimacy to anyone.

“Its [U.S.] policy is already clear. They are taking a transactional, practical approach to tackle issue like TOC [transnational organized crime]. They will discuss matters that are crucial to U.S. interests,” she said.

“So, this is nothing unusual. Nor is it a shift in policy. Since the Trump administration took office, this is how the U.S. has been dealing with [all] countries, not just Myanmar.”

Banya Khung Aung, Secretary 2 of the Interim Executive Council of Karenni (Kayah) State, which largely controls the eastern Myanmar state, told The Irrawaddy he is concerned that increased U.S. engagement with the regime will harm the country’s federal democracy and human rights movements, whether financially, technically or operationally. As evidence, he pointed to the Trump administration’s recent cuts to USAID funding for Myanmar.

“If you look carefully at Donald Trump’s policies, everyone knows that he engages with all [sides] and highly considers his national interests. So, I am not surprised with [the administration’s ongoing] engagement with the regime,” he said.

He noted that foreign governments are no longer prioritizing democracy and human rights, and are instead focusing on their national and common interests.

“Because of that, whether it is a government or a dictatorship, if there are benefits for America, it is almost certain they will engage.”

Bertil Lintner, a Swedish journalist, author and strategic consultant who has been writing about Asia for more than four decades, echoed Banya’s comments.

“I am not surprised. Democracy has never been a top priority for the Trump administration. And more countries are starting to acquiesce to a fait accompli. The military-dominated government is there to stay for the foreseeable future.”

Following the 2021 coup, the U.S. under Joe Biden imposed sweeping sanctions against top regime generals—including Min Aung Hlaing and his family—as well as military-owned conglomerates.

But Trump has shifted U.S. policy from isolating the regime to engaging with it, including delisting junta cronies accused of aiding and abetting regime war crimes and crime against humanity committed against their own people.

Meanwhile, the country, whose economy has collapsed under the regime, has become a hotspot of transnational organized crime. Chinese-run scam syndicates under the protection of several armed organizations, including regime-controlled or aligned militia groups, defraud huge sums from victims globally, including Americans, who have lost billions of dollars annually in recent years.

Regarding U.S. engagement with the regime, Debbie Stothard, founder and coordinator of the Alternative Asean Network on Burma, said, “It looks like President Trump has been scammed by sham President Min Aung Hlaing. Trump is rewarding a criminal for committing more crimes.”

She warned that U.S. engagement with the regime not only poses risks to the country’s pro-democracy movement, but also endangers civilians in Myanmar and across the region. She noted that Min Aung Hlaing has escalated the country’s conflicts, causing mass displacement, while also driving a boom in transnational crime that targets victims regionally and globally.

“Embracing Min Aung Hlaing is embracing a nest of vipers. He has been intensifying threats to regional human security and economic stability,” Stothard said.

The U.S. State Department said it engages will all groups in Myanmar on issues affecting U.S. interests and has raised the need to cease violence and release political prisoners, according to the Reuters report.