Vietnam's president hosts gala dinner for APEC leaders

By Staff reporters, Reuters November 10, 2017 | 05:03 am PT

Leaders from the U.S., Russia, Japan, and seventeen other economies are attending the gala dinner at the APEC summit.

In his welcome speech, Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang said: "Fully aware of the importance of the close relations between Vietnam and APEC, Vietnam has always made active and responsible contributions to the work of the forum over the past 20 years."

"By hosting APEC 2017, Vietnam wishes to reaffirm its foreign policy of diversification, multilateralization of international relations and intensive international integration," Quang said.

"We will continue to work with other APEC member economies in building a peaceful, stable, dynamic, interconnected and prosperous Asia - Pacific community."

Trump-Putin handshake

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin shook hands at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit dinner in Vietnam on Friday, even though the White House said there would be no formal meeting.

Trump and Putin smiled and stood next to each other for the traditional group photograph. Then they parted to sit at different parts of the table.

The White House said earlier that no formal meeting was planned because of scheduling conflicts on both sides, though it was possible they would bump into each other.

"In terms of a scheduled, formal meeting, there's not one on the calendar and we don't anticipate that there will be one," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters minutes before landing in Da Nang.

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Trump and Putin smile and shake hands as they stand next to each other for the traditional group photograph. Photo by VnExpress

The main meeting of leaders from APEC countries is on Saturday in the Vietnamese resort city of Da Nang. Trump is on the fourth leg of a 12-day tour of Asia.

Take a look at other moments of the gala dinner.