Russia to decide on APEC summit delegation membership on its own — envoy
Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov underscored that the "question of the delegation’s membership and level of representation is Russia’s prerogative"
WASHINGTON, October 3. /TASS/. Russia will decide who will represent it at the APEC Summit in San Francisco in November on its own, with consideration of practical feasibility, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said.
"In the business of sending invitations, Washington as the APEC chair was assigned a technical function - to compose a document and to send it to all members of the association," the Russian diplomat said, answering a question about US State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller’s remarks. According to the spokesman, the US expects that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not take part in the summit.
The Russian envoy underscored that the "question of the delegation’s membership and level of representation is Russia’s prerogative."
"We will decide on our own who will travel to San Francisco, based on practical feasibility, as soon as we receive the invitation," Antonov underscored.
"As for the referrals to the American sanctions, we consider them untenable, and we view attempts to condition the sending of invitations on implementation of illegal unilateral restrictions as a direct violation of international obligations," the Russian envoy said.