SEATTLE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd August, 2023) High-ranking officials and ministers will gather in Seattle this week to address food security matters as part of the third Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Senior Officials' and Ministerial Meetings.
The Food Security Ministers Meeting (FSMM) will be held on Thursday with participation of US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and US envoy for APEC Matt Murray.
Officials will gather for the High-level Meeting on Health and the Economy (HLMHE) on August 6. The meetings in Seattle will conclude with the Energy Ministerial Meeting on August 15.
The APEC Economic Leaders' Week will take place in San Francisco in November.
The event will take place in the aftermath of the suspension of the Black sea Grain Initiative. On July 18, the Turkey-and UN-mediated Black Sea Grain Initiative, which provided for a humanitarian corridor to allow exports of Ukrainian grain over the past year, expired, as Russia did not renew its participation in the deal.
Moscow emphasized that the deal's component on facilitating Russian grain and fertilizer exports had not been fulfilled, specifically with regard to reconnecting Russian banks to SWIFT and unblocking the Tolyatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline.
The United States serves as the APEC host of 2023. In November last year, US Charge d'Affaires in Moscow Elizabeth Rood told RIA Novosti that the US intends to ensure the participation of all delegations in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation's annual meeting of economic leaders in San Francisco in 2023 in accordance with US laws.
