Russian, Indonesian presidents skip APEC

MANILA, Philippines - Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indonesian President Joko Widodo will not attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Manila next week.

A Kremlin spokesman said yesterday Russia would be represented instead by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev because he had a series of meetings planned in the region anyway.

Medvedev replaced Putin as president from 2008 to 2012 when Putin served as prime minister, after which they switched positions.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said President Aquino and Putin were scheduled to talk on the phone after the announcement of the Russian leader not attending the APEC summit.

Widodo, on the other hand, will skip the summit because of domestic issues, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

Indonesia is Southeast Asia’s biggest economy and has in recent months been the source of haze from land-clearing fires that have blanketed much of the region.

An Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman in Jakarta confirmed that Widodo would not be attending the November 18 to 19 summit in Manila but did not elaborate on the domestic issues keeping him at home.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla would be going instead, the Indonesian spokesman said.

Widodo cut short his first official trip to the United States last month to oversee his government’s efforts to combat the fires that have caused school closures, flight cancelations and pollution levels to spike.

“The haze has really crossed borders. So I think that is the one that he’s trying to look into,” said Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Laura del Rosario.

“From his (Widodo) senior officials, they said there are things in Jakarta that need some of his attention. He’ll be coming from G20 in Turkey and he needs to attend the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur. He decided to get a period in between to go home and address some domestic concerns,” Del Rosario said in a press briefing. Del Rosario chairs the APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting.

A Jakarta Post report said Husain Abdullah, spokesman for Kalla, confirmed on Wednesday that the latter was assigned to attend the APEC Summit on behalf of Widodo.

“Whatever position Indonesia has will be reiterated by his own Foreign Minister and Trade Minister. We all know his Trade Minister is very liberal in his decision and knows issues in APEC,” Del Rosario said.

She added Indonesia would make sure its position would reflect in the declaration that senior officials and leaders would issue during or after the summit.