Most leaders of the Asia-Pacific region condemned the war in Ukraine in the final statement of the APEC summit published on Saturday, adding their voice to the international pressure on Russia, reports AFP.

After a day and a half of talks in Bangkok, 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum agreed on a joint statement criticizing the conflict and global economic turmoil caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The majority of members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and emphasized that it is causing enormous human suffering and increasing the existing vulnerability of the world economy,” the statement said.

The final statement was approved by all members, including China, which refrained from publicly criticizing Moscow for the invasion.

“There were different views and different assessments of the situation and the sanctions,” the statement said, using the same wording as the G20 statement issued earlier in the week after the summit in Indonesia.

In a statement, APEC complains about the impact of the Ukrainian conflict on economic growth, inflation, supply chains, energy and food security.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused to attend the G20 and APEC summits, sending his foreign minister to Bali and his deputy prime minister to Bangkok.

(article photo: © Carsten Medom Madsen | Dreamstime.com)