Washington, Aug 31 (IANS) US President Barack Obama will not have a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the G20 Leaders’ Summit slated for Sep 5-6 in St. Petersburg, Russia, a senior US official said.
“At this time there is no bilateral meeting or pull-aside expected between the presidents,” Xinhua quoted the official as saying Friday.
“This is less a visit to Russia than a trip to the G20, which happens to be hosted by Russia,” he added.
Obama cancelled a planned summit with Putin earlier this month, as relations between the two countries had turned sour over the past year, in particular over Syria, missile defence, human rights and Russia’s granting of asylum to Edward Snowden, the former US National Security Agency surveillance programme leaker.
Obama is weighing military action against the Syrian government over its alleged use of sarin gas in Aug 21 attack on the opposition forces in the suburbs of Damascus, while the Russian government has opposed any military intervention in Syrian conflict.
