Joint Release by the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, and New Zealand on the Occasion of the APEC Finance Ministers Meeting, 19-20 October 2022

“We express our unwavering support for APEC and are fully committed to helping Thailand, as APEC Chair in 2022, deliver a successful host year.   

We are united in our resolve to ensure peace and stability in our region and to uphold international law, recognizing these are preconditions for the inclusive and sustainable economic growth for which we strive.   We condemn in the strongest terms Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine, including Russia’s recent attacks on civilians and their illegal attempted annexation in Ukraine.  The international community must stand united against Russia’s aggression, which undermines the rules-based international order.   We express our grave concern at the deteriorating humanitarian situation and at the harm to food and energy security in the world caused by Russia’s actions, which have further strained global supply chains, contributed to inflationary pressures, and undermined the global economy’s recovery towards strong, balanced, inclusive, innovative, and sustainable growth.

Together with the international community and in close cooperation with the government of Ukraine, we remain committed to supporting Ukraine. We will further step up efforts to overcome the food crisis in coordination with international organizations and development partners and, in this context, will focus on supporting affected economies in protecting vulnerable populations from the impact of food price shocks and on lifting of export restrictions on food and fertilizers. We also express our concern regarding volatility in energy markets and underscore the need to promote energy resilience, access, and security in the region. 

Reaffirming the importance of the rules-based international order that underpins an open, dynamic, resilient and peaceful Asia-Pacific region, we strongly urge Russia to immediately cease its use of force and completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from Ukrainian territory.” 

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