U.S. president Barack Obama has said a lack of trust between Washington and Moscow is hampering efforts to agree a ceasefire in Syria and co-ordinate worldwide action against Islamic State and other radical groups operating there. “It is indisputable that it would create a better deal for us than the status quo”, Obama said.
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Reuters said that Mr Putin said on Monday that an agreement with the United States on finding a way to significantly reduce the death toll in Syria could be reached in the next few days.
“There was some backsliding from some of the recent discussions in Geneva” between Kerry and Lavrov, the official said, adding that on Sunday there was a “narrowing back” to the positions the parties had taken coming into the meeting.
The G20 leaders summit that took up place in the Chinese city of Hangzhou was a great success as all the goals that had been set were accomplished, President of China Xi Jinping said Monday.
Russian Federation supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his regime, while the USA doesn’t. But Obama “suggested the USA has concerns about Russian Federation holding up its end of the bargain and enforcing the terms”, the wire service writes.
Russia, however, considers several of the groups the US backs to be “terrorist” organizations and, therefore, as legitimate targets. He and Lavrov were expected to continue negotiating the truce – or what President Obama called a “meaningful, serious, verifiable cessation of hostilities”. USA officials blame Russian intelligence for a hack on the Democratic National Committee that resulted in a leak of emails damaging to its presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton. Putin has denied his government was involved, but cheered the release of the information.
On Monday, Obama didn’t provide details about where his negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin broke down, The Associated Press reports. Mr Obama met earlier with French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the same issue.
It was one of Obama’s final chances to engage in face-to-face diplomacy with his counterparts before a new president is elected in November.
A sit-down between Obama and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also laid bare the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies’ diverging interests in Syria, with Erdogan pointedly challenging Obama on US support for Kurds fighting the Islamic State group in Syria.
Backed by Russian warplanes, Assad’s forces have waged an air and ground campaign that has killed hundreds of thousands of people, sparked a humanitarian crisis and forced millions of Syrians to seek refuge in Europe.
White House officials said last week that Obama would confront Duterte about the killings.
Obama’s next stop is Laos, where he’ll promote his effort to deepen ties to Southeast Asia.
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Obama suggested Monday his planned meeting Duterte may not go forward.
