Two-way trade, investment and personnel exchanges are at historical highs, he said, and both countries have worked together in combating climate change, advancing negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty, and establishing a mutual trust mechanism between the two militaries.
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After an anticipated news conference did not take place, Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters that his negotiations here with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov snagged on “a couple of tough issues” – almost identical to the language he used when the two failed to reach agreement in their last meeting, just over a week ago in Geneva.
“After that Obama and Putin a one-on-one meeting behind closed doors”, the Kremlin spokesman said.
“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.
Obama met with British Prime Minister Theresa May at the start of a G20 summit in China as Britain embarks on the long process of reinventing itself as an independent trading nation following the shock June EU referendum outcome.
Russian Federation and the USA have sought for weeks to secure a cease-fire between Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government and moderate rebels that would expand access for hundreds of thousands of civilians caught in the crossfire. China and the USA together represent 38 percent of global emissions.
The US hopes to align with Russian Federation to identify terrorist targets, including ISIS and the Nusra Front, a group formerly tied to al-Qaeda.
“We’re not there yet”, Obama said. Russian Federation has backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but the United States has worked with what it says are moderate opposition forces fighting against him.
“Overcapacity is a global problem but there is a particular Chinese element”, he said at a news conference.
Obama and his Russian counterpart Putin met Monday as talks between their governments on ending violence in Syria ended without an agreement. “And despite the turbulence of the political events over the last several months, we have every intention of making sure that continues”. “The Assad regime in particular of course has Russian support”, he said.
The Group of 20 leading economies will set up a global forum to combat world industrial oversupply, a senior European Union diplomat said Monday at a summit in China.
After the meeting of Kerry and Lavrov, Obama and Putin held a meeting on Monday on the margins the G-20 summit.
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Obama took the fracas in stride Sunday, saying that although the United States insists on press access and does not “leave our values and ideals behind”, the traveling White House juggernaut could be intimidating.
