Russian President Vladimir Putin will not fly to Glasgow to attend the COP26 climate summit, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, a setback for host Britain's hopes of getting world leaders to agree on a significant climate deal.
Britain, which hosts the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties, or COP26, in Glasgow from October 31 to November 12, is seeking to get big power support for a more radical plan to tackle climate change.
The Kremlin also said a meeting between Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden before the end of the year was a realistic possibility, as Moscow-Washington relations languish at post-Cold War lows.
"In one form or another (a meeting) is quite realistic," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said when asked whether the meeting could take place this year.