US Vice President Harris to face off with Putin at Apec Summit

Harris will represent the United States at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders Meeting to be held on November 18-19 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre. The summit will be attended by leaders of 21 Asia-Pacific economies. Thailand is this year’s host of Apec.
“The vice president’s participation will underscore the US commitment to economic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region and she will outline US goals for our Apec host year in 2023,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told a media briefing.
Next year, the US will host the Apec Summit and related meetings for the first time since 2011.
During her visit to Thailand, Harris “will engage with Thai leaders and civil society representatives to reaffirm and strengthen the US-Thai alliance and to discuss our cooperation across a range of issues”, said the spokesperson.

The Bangkok summit is being held amid a global fuel crisis and international sanctions triggered by Russia’s war in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced earlier this month that he had accepted Thailand’s invitation to attend the Apec summit.
May’s Apec meeting in Bangkok ended without the traditional joint communique after a walkout protest by the US and four other countries over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The US and its allies have imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Moscow over its invasion.
The US vice president will be accompanied to Thailand by her husband Douglas Emhoff, who will participate in the Apec spousal programme, according to the spokesperson.
As the first-ever husband of a US vice president, Emhoff is the first person in American history to hold the title of “second gentleman”.
Meanwhile, President Biden will have a busy schedule next month although he is not travelling to Thailand. His visits to Egypt, Cambodia, and Indonesia have been scheduled.
On November 11, Biden will attend the 27th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) in Egypt, according to the White House press secretary.
 

He will then be in Phnom Penh from November 12-13 to participate in the annual US-Asean Summit and the East Asia Summit.
“In Cambodia, he will reaffirm the US’s enduring commitment to Southeast Asia and Asean centrality, building on the success of the historic US-Asean Special Summit in Washington DC. He will underscore the importance of US-Asean cooperation in ensuring security and prosperity in the region, and the well-being of our combined one billion people,” the spokesperson said.
Later, the US president will attend the Group of Twenty (G20) Leaders’ Summit in Bali, Indonesia, from November 13-16.