Obama and his Russian counterpart Putin met on Monday as talks between their governments on ending violence in Syria ended without an agreement.
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“Given the gaps of trust that exist, that’s a tough negotiation”, Obama said at a news conference closing the Group of 20 summit.
Mr Putin is a firm ally of President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian civil war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and British Prime Minister Theresa May met in Hangzhou Sunday and expressed hopes to fix bilateral relations through dialogue.
Obama and Putin also discussed the conflict in Ukraine, where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting the government, and the implementation of an agreement to stop the violence.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that there had been some “alignment” with USA counterpart Barack Obama over Syria after talks in China, insisting the two sides could reach a deal soon.
At the press conference Monday, Obama also addressed concerns about cybersecurity, acknowledging that the US has “had problems with cyber intrusions” from Russian Federation and other countries.
“We are waiting for a final agreement”.
“Our goal is not to suddenly in the cyber arena duplicate a cycle of escalation that we saw when it comes to other arms races in the past”, he said, “but rather to start instituting some norms so that everyone is acting responsibly”.
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“While I recognise there will be some differences between us, there are some complex and serious areas of concern and issues to discuss, I hope we will be able to have a frank and open relationship and dialogue”, May said.
