SYDNEY/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. is disappointed&nbsp;Solomon&nbsp;Islands&nbsp;Prime Minister Manasseh&nbsp;Sogavare&nbsp;will not attend a Pacific&nbsp;Islands&nbsp;summit&nbsp;with U.S. President Joe Biden next week, the&nbsp;White&nbsp;House said on Saturday.
Biden will host a second&nbsp;summit&nbsp;with&nbsp;leaders of the Pacific&nbsp;Islands&nbsp;Forum at the&nbsp;White&nbsp;House on Monday as part of his efforts to step up engagement with a region where the U.S. is in a battle for influence with China.
The&nbsp;summit&nbsp;with the 18-member forum will take place on Monday and Tuesday in Washington.
"We are disappointed that PM&nbsp;Sogavare&nbsp;of the&nbsp;Solomons does not plan to attend," a Biden Administration official said.
The Australian broadcaster ABC reported&nbsp;Solomon&nbsp;Islands&nbsp;Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele will attend the&nbsp;summit&nbsp;instead.
The&nbsp;Solomon&nbsp;Islands&nbsp;Prime Ministers Office did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Sogavare&nbsp;spoke at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday in New York, where he praised China's development cooperation as "less restrictive, more responsive and aligned to our national needs", and said Beijing was its lead infrastructure partner.
Sogavare&nbsp;said he reached an understanding with President Xi Jinping during a July visit to China for&nbsp;Solomon&nbsp;Islands&nbsp;to achieve development through China's policies, including the Belt and Road Initiative and Global Security Initiative.
Vanuatu Prime Minister Sato Kilman also will not attend the meeting, an official from his office told Reuters on Friday, because all Vanuatu government lawmakers need to be in parliament on Monday for a no-confidence vote.
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(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington and Kirsty Needham in Sydney; Editing by Josie Kao)

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US 'disappointed' Solomon Islands leader Sogavare to miss White House summit