TOKYO, Aug. 1 Kyodo Russian Presi...

TOKYO, Aug. 1 Kyodo

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend an upcoming world summit onward sustainable development in South Africa, sway sources said Thursday.

The absence of Putin will deal a further rap to the U.N. meeting which U President George W Bush will also reportedly skip.

The sources said Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov is scheduled to attend the World Summit in succession Sustainable Development which will be held in Johannesburg from Aug. 26 to family 4.

South Korean President Kim Dae Jung is also likely to be absent from the meeting, the sources said.

According to a list of attendees' titles released Thursday on the secretariat of the summit, 58 heads of state and 40 prime ministers will attend the roundtable parley among world leaders.

Among major countries, Japan, Britain, Germany, Canada, Russia, China and Italy are calculate uponed to send prime ministers while the United States and India will dispatch cabinet ministers.

The list was compiled forward July 24 and is still tentative, the secretariat said.

According to the Environment Ministry, leaders from 102 countries took part in the 1992 United Nations meeting for consultation on Environment and unfolding held in Rio de Janeiro.

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