Sanctions weren't discussed at APEC summit - Russian delegation head
SAN FRANCISCO. Nov 17 (Interfax) - Sanctions were not discussed during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit's session titled Sustainability, Climate, and Just Energy Transitions, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk said.
"[The topic of] sanctions was not raised. But from the point of view that all countries should participate in the supply chains and no country should be excluded from this process, it was not discussed in this context," Overchuk told journalists following his speech at the APEC summit session in San Francisco.
"In principle, the keynote" of all speeches that were delivered there "is that the climate agenda really exists, and no one has any doubts about that today," the deputy prime minister said. In particular, issues raised at the session included the increase in the number of extreme weather phenomena and a potential need for people's relocation from littoral zones.
"A range of leaders, including us, emphasized the need for everyone to have access to technologies. Technologies are critical to the energy transition today. Many said that there should be supply chains in which all countries would have the opportunity to participate and no one would be excluded," Overchuk said.
It is impossible to resolve climate problems without all countries' involvement in international economic cooperation, he said.
"Above all, we drew attention to the fact that if we seriously speak about economic development problems, climate problems, then no countries of the region should be excluded from supply chains and from value-added international chains. It is highly important from the point of view of access to technologies, from the point of view of all countries of the region being involved in tackling the climate problem," Overchuk said.
The summit participants were also briefed on the economic situation in Russia, he said.
"We also informed them of the progress made by our economy. We highlighted that our economy has been growing and diversifying. And this is the qualitative growth prompted by the processing industry rather than by the resources industries," Overchuk said.
Russia pledged to become carbon neutral in 2060, the deputy prime minister said, adding that a pilot project is ongoing on Sakhalin.
Overchuk heads the Russian delegation to the November 15-17 APEC summit in San Francisco.