“Despite everything, we have some alignment of positions and an understanding of what we could do to de-escalate the situation in Syria”, Putin said at a press conference following the G20 summit in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou on Monday.
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“Our collaborative effort with the U.S. in fighting terrorist organizations, including the ones in Syria, may be significantly improved and intensified”, Putin said, before adding he believes that Russian Federation and the United States could reach a deal soon. But frantic diplomacy ended in failure, with Moscow accused of backtracking.
Separately, in his meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, Xi said China’s long term economic fundamentals remain sound and the government would adhere to economic policy that would maintain economic stability while making progress.
She also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin met with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the summit in a very warm and frank atmosphere.
Going into the G-20 summit, many Western officials said they were looking for evidence China will back up its promises of better access for foreign businesses after stepping up protection of Chinese companies and industries through tighter cybersecurity and other rules.
There were fears the gathering would be short on substance, with no acute crisis pushing leaders to defy rising populist sentiment.
“The feeling of the G20 is that if we do not address the question of fairness, it will endanger global governance as we know it”, a senior European diplomat told reporters. The president used an alternative exit, but quarrels with Chinese officials broke out on the tarmac and at other venues over access by USA officials and the traveling press.
Obama said on Sunday, however, that his talks on Saturday with President Xi Jinping had been “extremely productive” and that he “wouldn’t overcrank the significance” of arguments that took place at the airport upon his arrival.
Discussions were dominated by talk of the world economy.
How did the first China-hosted G20 go? They discussed, above all, Syria and Ukraine.
But U.S. and other officials say they plan to bring up Chinese industrial overcapacity and other potentially thorny issues.
A communique was adopted, clarifying the development direction, targets, measures of the G20 cooperation, while Hangzhou Consensus was reached on facilitating world economic growth through long-term, comprehensive, open, innovative and inclusive measures, said Xi.
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Trade negotiations were an “exclusive matter” for the European Union on behalf of its members and “we are sticking to it”, he told reporters on Sunday.
