SAN FRANCISCO, November 17. /TASS/. Several leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit mentioned the ongoing developments in Ukraine, but this issue was mostly in the background, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk said on Friday.

"A number of leaders mentioned Ukraine as they delivered speeches. However, this issue was mostly in the background," Overchuk, who heads the Russian delegation at the APEC summit in the United States, told journalists.

"Although, there were some occasionally emotional speeches that urged to end all wars before starting to deal with climate issues. On the whole, discussions focused on the climate agenda," he added.

According to previous statements of Matt Murray, the US Department of State official in charge of the APEC summit, the United States is taking measures to reach consensus on the event’s final statement. In his words, there has been "a lot of friction over the last couple of years over statements, primarily due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict."

The summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is held in San Francisco, California, on November 16-17. High on its agenda are matters of trade, digital assets, financial stability and innovations.