US Opens Talks With Myanmar’s Military Gov't Despite Ongoing Sanctions

Washington has moved from isolating Myanmar’s generals to negotiating with their government, opening talks that could expand from tackling online fraud to securing access to critical minerals.

The Trump administration’s outreach marks a substantial departure from the U.S. response to the 2021 coup, according to current and former officials and others who described the discussions to Reuters.

Michael Vance, the assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research, has been central to the effort.

He attended meetings with Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw on September 15-16, the most senior U.S. engagement with Myanmar’s leadership since the military seized power.

A Detention Opens the Door

The immediate objective was the release of American businessman Adam Castillo.

Four people familiar with the discussions said the meeting also set a path toward broader engagement.

Castillo, who previously led the American Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar, was arrested at Yangon airport on June 11.

His supporters contest the charges, while Washington has not publicly determined whether his detention was wrongful.

White House, National Security Council, and State Department officials pursued his release through informal channels.

According to one person familiar with those negotiations, Myanmar sought an official meeting with sufficiently senior U.S. representatives in exchange.

Castillo credited Trump with securing his freedom but offered no further comment.

The September visit followed June discussions in Tokyo that also included Vance.

One person said representatives from the Treasury Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Pentagon attended those earlier talks.

Scams and Mineral Access

Washington’s immediate priority is curbing fraud operations based in Myanmar that have cost Americans billions of dollars.

Two people familiar with the outreach said the FBI had communicated directly with Myanmar’s authorities about cyber scams.

Cooperation faces practical obstacles. Researchers say numerous scam compounds operate in militia-held areas, and the military receives a share of their revenue.

That raises questions about the leadership’s willingness to dismantle them.

Rare earths offer another possible avenue for engagement. U.S. officials have discussed Myanmar’s substantial deposits of heavy rare-earth minerals used in electric vehicles and wind turbines.

Much of that resource lies in areas controlled by ethnic armed groups fighting the government. China is the principal buyer and could regard U.S. involvement as a challenge to its position.

Those constraints have not removed minerals from the discussions as Washington seeks alternatives to Chinese supply chains.

Sanctions Remain in Place

Min Aung Hlaing remains subject to U.S. sanctions over human rights abuses, including the mass killing and expulsion of Rohingya Muslims in 2016-2017, which Washington recognized as genocide.

Within two weeks of the September meetings, a military airstrike hit a busy marketplace in Rakhine state. United Nations human rights officials reported more than 50 deaths and scores of injuries.

The State Department said it deals with groups across Myanmar on matters affecting American interests, while pressing for an end to violence and the release of political prisoners.

“You don't solve problems by ignoring them. You solve problems by addressing them,” spokesperson Tommy Pigott said.

Officials said Vance had also engaged the democratic opposition and ethnic armed groups.

His involvement in shaping policy is unusual for an intelligence chief, whose analytical independence can be affected by responsibility for policy decisions.

Pigott declined to explain Vance’s role.

A Break With Post-Coup Policy

After the coup, the Biden administration blocked Myanmar’s assets held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and sanctioned military leaders and associated businesses.

Congress subsequently approved non-lethal assistance for the opposition, including airstrike warning systems and support encouraging military defections.

Four current and former officials, along with correspondence Reuters reviewed, said most of those programs were eliminated during Trump’s foreign-aid overhaul last year.

The State Department said engagement with the government had not weakened its ties to other groups and that assistance continued in areas beyond military control. It provided no details.

Representative Gregory Meeks, the senior Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called the policy change “contrary to both our values and our interests.”

He accused the administration of granting the military leadership greater legitimacy while failing to implement mandated sanctions and democracy funding.

Meanwhile, Myanmar’s government has enlisted lobbyists in Washington.

Trump adviser Roger Stone began consulting for DCI Group on behalf of its Ministry of Information in April, according to Foreign Agents Registration Act disclosures.

A DCI newsletter in June argued that Washington could lose access to critical minerals unless it engaged with Myanmar.