President Joe Biden will miss the latest UN climate summit in Dubai (COP28 ), after two years of attending the talks in hopes of highlighting US leadership, a US official said Sunday. AFP reported.

Schedules released by the White House for Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris showed neither heading to Dubai this week.

Biden's engagements include a trip to Colorado to highlight US investment in wind energy, a meeting with the president of Angola, and the lighting of the national Christmas tree.

A US official confirmed that Biden was not planning to attend COP28 this week or during a second window close to the end of the talks on December 12.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Biden administration was still discussing whether to send a top-level official to Dubai.

The official did not give a reason for Biden's decision. But Biden has been focused for more than a month on the war between Israel and Hamas, and is also looking to highlight his domestic agenda with less than a year to the US presidential election.