Messrs. Obama and Putin were expected to discuss Syria, as well as Russia’s intervention in Ukraine. Song said the U.S. and China moves increase the chances that the Paris climate agreement will be implemented by the end of the year.
Advertisement
“We have agreed.to support the multilateral trade system and oppose protectionism”, Xi said after hosting the G20 summit in the Chinese city of Hangzhou.
The deal depends on the two sides agreeing to closer military coordination against extremist groups operating in Syria, something the Russians have long sought and the U.S. has resisted.
A USA official said “differences remain” despite two rounds of talks between Secretary of State John Kerry and his counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the summit.
Chinese officials said earlier that China would propose a plan to boost trade and innovation through regulatory changes and closer government cooperation.
President Barack Obama wraps up his final G20 meeting as president Monday with looming questions over United States policies toward China, North Korea and regional security.
President Barack Obama called off a planned meeting Tuesday with new Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, seeking distance from a USA ally’s leader during a diplomatic tour that’s put Obama in close quarters with a cast of contentious world figures. The U.S. and Russian Federation tried and failed to strike a deal on stemming the violence in the disastrous five-year conflict, even as a string of bomb attacks hit across the country, underlining the urgency of the task.
A cessation of hostilities agreement brokered by Lavrov and Kerry in February unraveled within weeks, with Washington accusing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces of violating the agreement.
Mrs May said she was hoping to visit China next year. At the end of the tightly choreographed talks, held in a cavernous complex in a largely deserted city, Xi produced resolutions on combatting industrial overcapacity-particularly in the sclerotic steel sector-and boosting global cooperation on corporate taxation.
And talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an centered on July’s coup attempt and Turkey’s insistence the U.S. extradite a cleric accused of plotting the attempted overthrow.
British Prime Minister Theresa May attends a press conference during the G20 summit held in the Chinese city of Hangzhou on Monday.
“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.
To the frustration of the White House, these weighty matters seemed to be overshadowed by a made-for-social-media moment from Obama’s arrival at the airport.
Advertisement
Obama was slated to leave China Monday evening, after a closing press conference.
