MOSCOW, December 2. /TASS/. Governor of Russia’s Sakhalin Region Oleg Kozhemyako could not meet the U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman as he had to travel for a governmental commission meeting in Moscow and would be happy to meet any other day, convenient for both sides.

"I respect greatly the diplomat’s desire to visit the region, and I appreciate his desire to see life in the regions, including the Far East, and I am always happy to meet him," the governor told TASS on Saturday. "This time the meeting did not happen as our schedules did not meet - I had to go to Moscow on a working trip to participate in the governmental commission’s meeting, as I am a member of this commission, and I could not cancel the trip, thus the meeting did not happen not because of a lack of desire, but only for technical reasons."

"I am happy to meet at any time, convenient for both parties," the governor said. "We can discuss it and make arrangements."

TASS reported earlier that the U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman had cancelled his trip to the Far East. The embassy reported the trip had been cancelled since "local officials - including the governors of Primorskiy Krai and Sakhalin, and the mayor of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk - were uniformly unable to find time to meet with Ambassador Huntsman.".