Russia to boycott 2016 nuclear summit

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Russia's planned boycott of a 2016 global nuclear security summit meeting in Chicago will likely invalidate the significance of the talks.

Russian and U.S. officials said Wednesday Russia would not attend the talks, planned by U.S. President Barack Obama as the final step of an eight-year effort, before he leaves office, in controlling nuclear material around the world. Only Russia has a nuclear capacity approaching that of the United States, and the rebuff is an indication of the deteriorating relationship between the two countries.

Trade talks and space programs are among the bilateral projects that have been curtailed, as well as Russia's removal from the "Group of Eight" major powers, over Russia's involvement in Crimea and Ukraine. Prior to the Ukraine conflict, Obama canceled a planned visit to Moscow in protest of Russia's offer of asylum to Edward Snowden, the U.S. security analyst who leaked intelligence information. The most recent nuclear summit was held in The Hague, Netherlands, in March, where Russia and the United States endorsed the meeting's final statement.

A meeting last week, in preparation for the 2016 talks, was not attended by Russia representatives.