Putin opposes TPP and seeks entry to APEC

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-11-08

Vladimir Putin, left, attending an international investment forum in Moscow
on Oct. 3. (File photo/Xinhua)

Russian president Vladimir Putin said the country will benefit from joining the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). He opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) proposed by the US since it will not include Russia and China, reports Huanqiu, the website of Chinese nationalistic tabloid Global Times.

According to the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union, the country has been actively seeking opportunities to join APEC. The economy and social developments of the country, especially Siberia and the Far East Federal Region, will greatly benefit from joining the international organization.

The APEC forum plays an important role in mediating relations between Asia-Pacific countries and is irreplaceable for constructing a new form of regional relations, said the Russian leader.

He opposed the TPP and said it is obviously a regional economic cooperation that the US is attempting to construction for its own interests. A new regional relationship should not exclude Russia and China since it may hinder them from creating better economic relations with neighbors, Putin also said.

Only a multilateral relationship that takes into account the national interests of all Asia-Pacific countries can be sustainable and long lasting, said the Russian leader, who added it is exactly what Beijing proposes in the roadmap that will be brought up during the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting.