Kagan said Malaysia had the right to decide how to conduct its relations, but so did the US.

“The US will take appropriate and necessary measures to ensure all US interests are protected,” he told reporters at the US Election Day Watch event here today.

Kagan was asked to comment on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s recent revelation that he rejected a call by US secretary of state Antony Blinken to stop being friendly with Russia.

Ties between Washington and Moscow have reached their lowest point since the Cold War after Russia invaded parts of Ukraine.

According to Anwar, he told Blinken not to instruct Malaysia in terms of its relationship with other countries.

“We are an independent, sovereign country, we make decisions for our people and our nation,” he was quoted as saying.

Anwar had met Blinken at the Asean Summit in Laos last month.

Nonetheless, Kagan said he was confident Washington could find ways to work with Malaysia “within these constraints”.

“Each side understands what the core interests are and how they can best be advanced,” he said.

Separately, Kagan said regardless who becomes the next US president, Washington’s relations with Putrajaya will remain strong.

He said although there had been times when ties “have been stronger and times a little bit less so”, the underlying fundamentals of the relationship were what really mattered.

He was confident that these fundamentals will continue.

“Policies are likely to change (when the new president takes charge) but I think the fundamentals won’t,” he said.

He said the fundamentals were that the US had a deep and bipartisan commitment to the Indo-Pacific region as it recognised its importance.

“If you look at the amount of trade (and) the strategic importance, it’s very clear, regardless of who’s in the White House, there will be a deep commitment to the Indo-Pacific (region), and some of the key drivers of our policy, including our competition with China, are not going to change,” he said.