Forty-eight hours into his third term, President Vladimir Putin has backed out of a high-profile meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama and other G8 leaders.
The Kremlin confirmed Thursday that Putin had telephoned Obama to say he would not attend the Group of Eight summit in Maryland next week and would send Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in his stead.
In a short statement, the White House said Putin explained in the phone conversation Wednesday that he was busy finalizing a new government after his inauguration this week.
“Noting his responsibilities to finalize Cabinet appointments in the new Russian government, President Putin expressed his regret that he would be unable to attend the G8 summit at Camp David on May 18-19,” the White House said.
EU-Digest
No comments:
Post a Comment