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Putin will skip APEC summit in Chile

Russia will be represented at the APEC summit at another but likewise high level, the Kremlin spokesman said

Russian President Vladimir Putin Mikhail Metzel/TASS

Russian President Vladimir Putin

© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

MOSCOW, October 30. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will take part in the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit but will skip the APEC summit in Chile in mid-November, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"The president plans to take part in the BRICS summit, which will be held in Brasilia. He will go there on a three-day trip," he said.

According to the Kremlin spokesman, "Russia will be represented at the APEC summit in Chile at another but likewise high level."

A decision to cancel his visit to the summit of the APEC member economies in Chile is unrelated to mass riots in Santiago and is due to a large number of internal events, according to Peskov.

"No, this is not related to local riots. Indeed, such a possibility (of the visit to Chile) was considered. At the same time, we never announced it. Currently, Putin’s program does not stipulate such a trip due to internal events and the need to deal with internal Russian problems," the Kremlin spokesman said.

The protests that grew into mass riots and clashes with the police erupted in the Chilean capital on October 14 after the authorities decided to hike subway fares. The riots later spread to other Chilean cities. In this situation, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera announced introducing a state of emergency in the capital and other populated areas and had to cancel public transport fare hikes. According to the authorities’ data, 19 people died in the riots.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit will be held on November 16-17. US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are expected to be among its participants.

The BRICS summit, in which Putin plans to take place, will be held in Brazil on November 13-14.

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