Obama said the meeting was “constructive but not conclusive”.
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The 11th summit of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies concluded here on Monday, reaching consensus on a wide range of important topics, Chinese President Xi Jinping told reporters.
These latest talks between Obama and Putin come as the Russian-backed Syrian government troops continue their siege of Aleppo.
“President Obama and President Putin discussed efforts to reach an agreement on Syria to reduce violence, provide humanitarian assistance and to focus on Al Qaeda”, the White House official said.
Obama described the talk with Putin as “candid, blunt and businesslike”.
Obama remains a central world figure, but there was a palpable sense at the G-20 gathering that the world is waiting for a new president to reset USA policies on Syria, Ukraine, and North Korea.
Monetary policy alone can’t lead to balanced growth, and member nations are determined to use all monetary, fiscal, structural tools, the G-20 said in its final communique Monday after two-day leaders summit in Hangzhou, China.
“Given the gaps of trust that exist, that’s a tough negotiation, and we haven’t yet closed the gaps in a way where we think it would actually work”, Obama said.
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the two sides are close to a deal and that they are talking about the most serious issues of implementing a cease-fire.
Commenting on the announcement of the Russian leader, First Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid Kalashnikov said that there is a chance that the two countries will agree on the settlement of the long-standing conflict in the nearest future.
“What we can not do is have a situation where this becomes the wild, wild West, where countries that have significant cyber capacity start engaging in unhealthy competition or conflict through these means”, Obama continued. Ukraine was mentioned at the meeting, Putin said, without specifying further.
Obama “made clear to president Putin that sanctions will continue on Russian Federation if Minsk is not fully implemented”, the White House pool reported.
Washington should “aim to find a compromise which would reflect the interests of both cooperating sides”, Putin said, adding that sometimes the United States leadership only considers its “own benefit”.
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Speaking to reporters in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, he said it was premature to give details about the terms of the agreement, but that Russian Federation would strengthen co-operation with the United States on fighting terrorism.
