Bush invites world leaders to summit

by Mark Silva

President Bush today invited leaders of the world's industrial powers to an economic summit in Washington starting on Nov. 15.

The president will officially be a lame duck at that point, yet the economic crisis underway will be foremost on the mind of his successor and the world's other leaders.

The invitations for a summit on the global economic crisis have gone out to members of the other G-8 nations and 12 more players: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union.

Among the early RSVP's: Russia -- a nation which Republican presidential nominee John McCain has spoken of booting from the Group of Eight major industrial nations.

"Russia welcomes the U.S. decision to host the summit," Natalya Timakova, a spokeswoman for President Dmitry Medvedev, said today.

"We can't yet say who will be the leader of the Russian delegation," the official said. "We are considering options."

Medvedev is scheduled to attend a European Union-Russia summit in France on Nov. 14.

Wire services contributed to this report.