US to Invite Russia to Attend 2023 APEC Meetings in San Francisco: State Department

Russian and U.S. flags before talks between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman at the U.S. Mission in Geneva, Switzerland, on Jan. 10, 2022. Denis Balibouse/Reuters

The United States plans to invite Russia to attend meetings of the Asia–Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) bloc, which will be hosted by the United States next year, despite deteriorating relations between the two, a senior official has said.

U.S. State Department senior official for APEC, Matt Murray, told a media briefing in Singapore on Monday that the nation, “as good stewards of APEC,” will invite Russia, a member of the 21-country bloc, to attend the meetings which are set to take place in November 2023.