Russia and China were alleged to have blocked a proposed consensus statement for the East Asia Summit (EAS) drafted by Southeast Asian countries, mainly over objections to language on the contested South China Sea, a US official was reported as saying yesterday.

According to Reuters, a draft statement arrived at by consensus by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) was put to the 18-nation EAS meeting in Laos on Thursday evening, the official said.

"Asean presented this final draft and said...