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Russia Hopes to Diversify Economy Through Asia-Pacific Pivot

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Russia’s economic cooperation with the Asia-Pacific Region has gained in importance following its split with the West, Deputy Foreign Minister Vasily Nebenzya told RIA Novosti Thursday.

BANGKOK, August 7 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s economic cooperation with the Asia-Pacific Region has gained in importance following its split with the West, Deputy Foreign Minister Vasily Nebenzya told RIA Novosti Thursday.

“In the current international climate, cooperation with APR countries has taken on great importance for us. The US and EU sanctions regime is not just a challenge but, in a sense, it has opened a window of opportunity for diversifying our economy, as well as our international ties,” Vasily Nebenzya stressed.

The Russian deputy foreign minister has arrived in the Thai capital Bangkok to participate in UN’s annual Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

The ESCAP session will have two Russia-initiated topics on the table – that of energy cooperation between APR states and a new transport program that envisages the creation of an extensive dry port network across the region. Dry ports are inland terminals directly connected by road to seaports.

Vasily Nebenzya said Russia was not going to “turn our backs on our traditional partners, although they are doing their best to curb, freeze or impose sanctions on this cooperation.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered the government to come up with a list of agricultural and food products from the United States and European Union for one year.

The complete blacklist of banned products is expected to be announced Thursday.

At the height of the Ukrainian crisis, the United States imposed several rounds of sanctions against Russian officials, business people and companies and pressed for the allies in the West to follow its lead. The European Union, Switzerland, Canada, Australia and Japan soon caved in to the US sanctions push and came up with their own blacklists.

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