In an aerial view, shipping cranes stand on the Port of Oakland in front of the San Francisco skyline on Oct. 24, 2022.
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Russia shall be invited to attend meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) bloc hosted by the USA next yr, a U.S. official said on Monday.
As “good stewards of APEC,” the USA will invite Russia, which is a member of the 21-country bloc, Matt Murray, a senior U.S. official for APEC, told a media briefing in Singapore.
Relations between Washington and Moscow have deteriorated to their worst in 60 years since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, an act it justifies as a “special military operation,” but which has prompted sanctions and condemnation from Western nations in addition to countries like Singapore.
At an APEC meeting hosted by Thailand in May, representatives from the USA and another countries walked out of a gathering in protest of Russia’s actions in Ukraine when Russian Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov was delivering remarks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t attend a summit of the Group of 20 major economies in Bali last month despite an invite from host Indonesia, which had resisted pressure from Western countries to disinvite the leader and even expel Russia from the bloc.
Murray didn’t say if Putin would attend next yr’s APEC leaders’ meeting in San Francisco. The Russian leader was represented by First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov on the leaders’ meeting hosted by Thailand last month.
