MOSCOW, October 5 (RIA Novosti) – Russia is an “integral and organic” part of Asia Pacific, the country’s Foreign Minister wrote ahead of an upcoming regional summit, and the priorities it proposed for the meeting “hit the bull’s eye.”
In the article, published ahead of the October 7-8, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bali, Indonesia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stresses that Russia is committed to “strengthening its presence” in the region.
It also calls greater engagement with the area “a major precondition” for securing development and “the social and economic rise of Siberia and the Far East.”
This year Indonesia took over the rotating chairmanship of APEC from Russia, which hosted the 2012 summit in Vladivostok.
On Friday Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson said that the US Secretary of State and Russian Foreign Minister would meet during the Bali summit, and on Saturday RIA Novosti reported that their meeting was set for Oct.7, citing the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Earlier in the week, Kremlin officials said that Putin and US President Barack Obama might have a one-on-one meeting during the summit.
However, Obama had to cancel his Asia tour due to the continuing impact of the US federal government shutdown.
This was the second cancellation of a meeting between the two presidents, as Russia-US relations remain strained over disagreements on Syria and US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden.
