President Barack Obama will not attend an upcoming European Union-US summit hosted by Spain.
Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon said Monday the president remains committed to strong US-EU relations, but does not plan on attending the summit because it does not fit into his 2010 travel schedule.
The European Commission in Brussels said it was not aware that Obama would not attend the summit, being organized by Spain, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency.
Spain's top official for the EU presidency said it had assumed Obama would join EU heads of state at the event, scheduled for May.
Gordon noted Obama attended last year's summit in Prauge and hosted an EU-US summit in Washington in November.
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