Putin to miss G8 summit in U.S.

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russian President Vladimir Putin has told U.S. President Barack Obama that he will not attend the G8 summit in the US later this month, according to BBC News.

Putin, who was inaugurated as President this week after an absence of four years, told US officials he was busy finalizing his cabinet. He will send the outgoing president, Dmitry Medvedev, who replaces him as Prime Minister, instead.

The two presidents will now hold talks at the G20 meeting in Mexico in June.

Earlier this week, Washington criticized the Russian police response to anti-Putin rallies in Moscow.

A State Department spokesman said the US was "disturbed" by the "mistreatment" of peaceful protesters.

Organizers said 20,000 people took part in a protest on Sunday, May 6 against Putin's inauguration, though police put the figure at 8,000.

In a statement, the White House said President Putin "expressed his regret" to President Obama by phone.

The U.S. and Russian leaders will meet during the G20 summit in Mexico in June.

"The two presidents reiterated their interest in the sustained high-level dialogue that has characterized the reset of relations and the substantial progress of the last three years," the statement said.

The U.S. is hosting the G8 summit of seven of the world's most industrialized nations, and Russia, at Camp David on May 18-19.