Obama to skip APEC summit in Russia: White House

WASHINGTON - White House confirmed on Monday that US President Barack Obama will not attend the APEC summit to be held in Russia this fall.

White House spokesman Jay Carney confirmed the decision to reporters during a press gaggle on board Air Force One, citing the conflicting schedule between the APEC summit and the Democratic National Convention this September.

The confirmation came just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin told Obama that he will not attend the Group of Eight (G8) summit to be held on May 18-19 at Camp David in Maryland, due to his "responsibilities" to finalize the cabinet appointments. ?

Instead, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will attend the summit. The White House has said that Putin's absence from the G8 summit was not a "snub."

There has been speculation that Obama will not attend the APEC summit, but both Russia and the United States denied that this was a tit-for-tat move.

The 2012 APEC summit is expected to be held in Vladivostok, Russia this September, while the Democratic National Convention is scheduled to be held during the week of September 3.