Heads of foreign policy and trade departments and representatives of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries and regions held meetings in San Francisco (California), where they discussed, among other issues, the situation in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip. . This was reported by TASSCiting a joint statement by US trade negotiator Katherine Tai and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
According to the document, views were exchanged on the current crisis in Gaza.
The statement said, “Ministers, including the United States, explained their stance.”
The statement also stated that some ministers shared a common stance at the joint summit of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation held in Saudi Arabia on November 11.
“Some ministers opposed including this language in the joint ministerial statement following the 2023 APEC Ministerial Meetings on the grounds that they believe APEC is not a forum for discussing geopolitical issues,” Blinken and Tai said.
The statement also states that the United States condemns Russia’s special military operation (SVO) in Ukraine. As stated in the text, the special operation “has further aggravated the existing food security crisis in the world, especially in developing and least developed countries.”
Before that, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Alexander Pankin statedIt was noted that the interest of participants in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in the Ukrainian conflict has noticeably weakened compared to a similar event held in 2022.
Previously Zakharova stated About the “flawed” US line on APEC.