"The work is still ongoing. I would like to hope that the work will be completed this evening with a draft of a joint declaration. And we will be able to reach agreements," the diplomat said ahead of the two-day annual APEC summit, which will start in Bangkok on Friday.
Pankin expressed his hope that a declaration would eventually be adopted, as almost half of the G20 countries were taking part in the APEC summit and it would be possible for them to agree on a joint document the way they had done at the G20 summit, which took place in Bali earlier in the week.
In 2018, APEC countries failed to agree on a joint declaration at their summit in Papua New Guinea for the first time in the forum's history.
APEC comprises 19 countries from the Asia-Pacific region as well as Taiwan and Hong Kong. States such as Australia, Indonesia, Canada, China, Mexico, Russia, the United States, South Korea and Japan are also G20 members.