Russia's President Vladimir Putin will not attend the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.
No
reason was given for the decision not to attend, but a Kremlin
spokesperson said climate change was an "important" priority for Russia.
COP26 takes place in Scotland's largest city from 31 October to 12 November.
Russia's decision is seen as a blow to efforts to get leaders to negotiate a new deal to stall rising global temperatures.
"Unfortunately,
Putin will not fly to Glasgow," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told
reporters, adding that climate change was "one of our foreign policy's
most important priorities."
Earlier
in October, Australian Prime Minister attracted widespread criticism
for suggesting he might skip the summit, but he later announced that he
would indeed attend.
COP26
is the biggest climate change conference since landmark talks in Paris
in 2015. Some 200 countries are being asked for their plans to cut
emissions by 2030.
