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Russia yet to receive invitation to attend APEC summit in California — envoy

Moscow expects Washington to provide equal access for all delegations, noted Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov

WASHINGTON, September 30. /TASS/. Russia has not yet been officially invited by the US to the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in San Francisco, California this November but hopes that Washington ensures equal access for all delegations, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said as quoted by the embassy’s Telegram channel.

"We still haven’t received an official invitation from Washington," he said, replying to a question as to who will represent Russia at the summit. "The Administration doesn’t give a clear answer. In fact, it avoids performing in good faith the functions of the APEC chairmanship. We call on the White House to ensure equal access for all delegations to the forum and timely issuance of visas, as well as to stop politicizing the work of this platform," he explained.

"The impending US government shutdown can hardly serve an excuse for failure to comply with international commitments," the envoy added.

The summit of APEC countries is slated to be held in San Francisco in mid-November. APEC consists of 19 countries and two territories. They include its 12 founding members: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and the US. Other members are China (joined in 1991), Mexico and Papua New Guinea (1993), Chile (1994), Russia, Vietnam and Peru (1998). In 1991, two Chinese territories joined APEC: Hong Kong and Taiwan. The US will hand over the presidency of the organization to Peru.