APEC Ministerial Joint Statement "Condemning the Ukraine War"

Unable to Adopt Statement Due to Disagreement in Last Meeting

Foreign and trade ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) issued a joint statement on the 18th condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The ministers attending the APEC Foreign and Trade Ministers' Meeting (AMM) held in Bangkok, Thailand, stated in the joint statement that "the majority of members strongly condemn the war taking place in Ukraine."

They pointed out that "this war has caused immense human suffering and resulted in worsening vulnerabilities of the global economy, including slowed growth, increased inflation, supply chain disruptions, rising food and energy prices, and heightened risks to financial stability."

The ministers had failed to adopt a joint statement at last month's meeting due to differing views on Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Although it was widely expected that issuing a joint statement would again be difficult this time, a compromise was reached by including opposing views, similar to the approach taken in the G20 leaders' declaration.

However, the statement added that "there were also some differing perspectives and assessments regarding the Ukraine war."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.