Clinton to visit Russia in late June

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will lead the U.S. delegation at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, at the end of June, a senior official in Russia’s APEC delegation said. “The Women in the Economy forum will take place in St. Petersburg on June 28-30,” Gennady Ovechko said on Monday at Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “We were informed that the American delegation will be led by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,” Ovechko said. “The Russian delegation will be led by [Federation Council Speaker] Valentina Matvienko, the former governor of St. Petersburg and the official who ranks third in Russia’s state hierarchy,” he said. It would be the first visit to Russia by a top U.S. government official since Vladimir Putin was inaugurated president on May 7. Putin announced last week that he would not be attending the upcoming G8 Summit in the U.S. at Camp David, which was expected to be his first meeting in his new post with U.S. President Barack Obama. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters earlier today that Obama would not be attending the APEC Summit in Vladivostok, Russia, in September.