Vladimir Putin will not attend the opening of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly in September, the Kremlin announced Monday.

Instead, the Russian president is expected to send Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who will address the assembly. Diplomats from around the world will gather at the United Nations from Sept. 20 to 26. President Obama and French President François Hollande are slated to speak on the first day. Putin last year gave his first address to the General Assembly since 2005 — focusing on the Mideast and assailing the way “NATO has kept on expanding, together with its military infrastructure,” despite the end of the Soviet Union, Politico reported.(nypost.com)…[+]