Russia welcomes Washington''s decision to host an international summit on the global financial crisis on November 15, the Kremlin press service said on Wednesday.

"In our opinion, it is very important that the summit is to be held in the U.S. because the global financial crisis originated in the U.S. financial system," said Natalya Timakova, the Russian president''s press secretary.

"Russia is ready to take an active part in preparing this event in collaboration with its partners," Timakova said.

She confirmed that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev would attend the summit in Washington, DC.

The current global credit crunch started in the United States and quickly spread to Asia and Europe, leading to record losses on global financial markets, rising interest rates and a liquidity shortage.

The proposal to hold a series of financial summits "to review progress being made to address the current crisis and to seek agreement on the principles of reform needed to avoid a repetition and assure global prosperity in the future" was put forward by EU leaders during a summit in Brussels last Wednesday. It was supported by Medvedev.

The Washington summit will bring together leaders of the United States, Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, the European Union, China, Brazil, India, Russia, South Korea and other G20 countries.

The heads of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the United Nations and the Financial Stability Forum will also participate in the summit.