Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi has expressed support for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' decision to send a special envoy to Myanmar to help defuse the crisis triggered by the military coup there.

In separate talks with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and Brunei's second foreign minister, Dato Erywan Pehin Yusof, Motegi said Japan continues to strongly urge Myanmar's military to release those detained since the Feb. 1 coup, and that Tokyo is seeking a dialogue with the junta, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Motegi met the two ministers on the fringes of a meeting of foreign ministers of the Group of 20 major economies, in Matera, southern Italy, on Tuesday.