Leaders of the Asia-Pacific Forum (APEC) stressed in their closing statement on Saturday that “most” of them condemn the war in Ukraine, adding its voice to international pressure on Russia after its military operation in Ukraine.
After a day and a half of talks in Bangkok, the 21 forum members agreed on a joint statement criticizing the conflict and global economic turmoil caused by the Russian operation in Ukraine.
“Most members strongly condemn the war in Ukraine and underlines that it causes enormous human suffering and exacerbates existing weaknesses in the global economy,” said the leaders of the forum’s 21 member states, including Russia and China.
The text was approved by all countries, including Russia and China, which refrained from condemning the “invasion of Ukraine”.
The press release states that “there were other points of view and different assessments of the situation and the sanctions”, literally reiterating a position statement released a few days ago at the conclusion of the G20 summit in Bali, in Indonesia.
In their statement, APEC countries expressed regret about the impact of the Ukrainian conflict on economic growth, inflation, supply chains, energy and food security.
The United States and its allies took advantage of the G20 summit to expand the alliance against the Russian operation.
Facing difficulties on the field in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused to participate in G-20 and APEC summits and has sent his foreign minister to Bali and his deputy prime minister to Bangkok.
On the ground, the Ukrainian military has reported that a number of Russian missiles have fallen on various regions of Ukraine, while fierce fighting continues in Donetsk, in the east of the country.
The Ukrainian military added in a statement that the Russian army has made large and active movements in the last period in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces are engaged in fierce fighting in Donetsk, in the east of the country, adding that it had repulsed around 100 attacks launched by Russian and pro-Russian forces in the Donetsk region in the past 24 hours.
The Ukrainian president also ruled out approving a “brief truce” with Russia, saying it would only make matters worse. The fact that Moscow is looking for this truce to restore strength to him.
About half of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has become “out of order” following Russian attacks since early October, according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal, in one moment in which Kiev on Friday asked for “additional support” from its European allies.
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