Putin to attend gas exporters summit in Iran

President Putin will set off for Tehran on November 23 to attend a meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), the Kremlin's top foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov told journalists on Friday.

The countries, which refused to take part in the construction of South Stream, "will have to count lost profits", the Russian President said.

"A meeting between Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama is not officially planned", Ushakov said.

Putin is expected to discuss the Syria crisis in bilateral encounters with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister David Cameron, King Salman of Saudi Arabia and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Ergodan, Ushakov said.

Moscow is also looking to use its long-standing ties with Tehran to win lucrative contracts in the energy sector with a host of other countries also looking to muscle in.

Iran is hosting the 12-country natural gas conference in the wake of its nuclear accord with six world powers, which calls for global sanctions on Iran to be lifted in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.

Iran, Russia, Algeria, the UAE, Venezuela, Qatar, Egypt, Bolivia, Libya, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, and Trinidad and Tobago are the members of the forum and the Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Peru, Iraq, Oman, and Norway hold observer status.