Russia has blocked Canada's bid to chair the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum. Marat Berdyev, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry for G20 and APEC issues, wrote about this on his Telegram channel. As the diplomat noted, Canada has applied for the chairmanship in 2029. Berdyev recalled that at last year's APEC summit, Canada, Australia and New Zealand prevented reaching joint agreements and tried to politicize this format in the Ukraine issue. “The Russian side blocked the application… thereby eliminating the risk of Ottawa further weakening APEC as an important economic forum,” the ambassador emphasized. According to Berdyev, Russia considers that a new discussion about Canada's possible candidacy can only take place if the country reconsiders its behavior. Previously, it was known that the APEC summit in 2026 would be held in Shenzhen, China.
