Russia has accused Western powers of deliberately destabilising the world economy through the politicisation of trade, finance and technology.

Addressing the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Foreign and Trade Ministers’ Meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea, this week, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Pankin said the Asia-Pacific region’s projected 3% GDP growth for 2025: “cannot be considered optimal,” blaming what he called: “man-made challenges” for the poor growth projection.

APEC is a 21-member Asia-Pacific forum founded in 1989 that promotes trade, investment and practical economic cooperation through voluntary, consensus-based measures.

Pankin said economic coercion, unilateral sanctions, and discriminatory tariffs had turned trade and technology into: “weapons,” while efforts to reform the Bretton Woods system in favour of the Global South had stalled. “We are witnessing a deliberate collapse of the global economy,” Pankin said, accusing certain nations of seeking to maintain dominance: “and impose zero-sum games on others.”

Pankin urged APEC members to resist what he described as: “the politicisation of innovation,” arguing that artificial intelligence (AI) should serve all of humanity. He cited Russia’s 2023 National AI Development Strategy, which doubled the IT sector’s contribution to GDP in five years, and called for a: “fair architecture” for global AI governance based on respect for sovereignty and equal access to technology.

He also highlighted Russian measures to manage demographic change, support families, and promote women in science and business, saying that: “respect for spiritual and moral values and the family” formed the foundation of a prosperous society.

Pankin concluded by calling for greater co-ordination between the APEC countries and renewed commitment to: “a shared, open and non-discriminatory” economic order in the Asia-Pacific.

Moscow’s comments reflected its broader push to challenge Western-led economic structures and champion a multipolar order. By linking technology, trade, and social policy, Russia sought to position itself as a defender of sovereign development in an increasingly divided global economy.