Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said Moscow expects the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to approve Russia’s bid to chair the forum in 2035, and that China and Vietnam already back the request officially, according to the Russian state news agency TASS.

Rudenko said similar assurances came in contacts between Russian officials and countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and that a number of other delegations had reacted positively.