MOSCOW. Feb 15 (Interfax) - Russia is operating under the assumption that the visit by U.S. President Barack Obama to Russia and his participation in the G20 summit are two independent issues.
"The U.S. president has an invitation to visit Russia. This invitation is naturally in force and he is considering it. As for his participation in the G20 summit, we are operating under the assumption that this issue is separate from the issue of his visit to Russia," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview with Interfax.
"There are no other additional issues. Besides, the Russian administration has invited the U.S. president to visit our country regardless of the summit and, naturally, to come to our summit. There are no new additional issues now, as far as I know," he said.
The G20 summit, which is chaired by Russia, is scheduled to take place in St. Petersburg in September.