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Obama, Putin Discuss Syria Cease-fire at G-20 in Hangzhou, China

U.S. President Barack Obama arrives at the Hangzhou Exhibition Center to attend the G20 Summit, Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016 in Hangzhou, China.

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Obama is scheduled to hold a news conference later Monday.

Obama added that now the gaps have not been closed in negotiations between Russian Federation and the United States in a way that they think would “actually work”.

Erdogan, who was speaking in China, said he had renewed his call previous year for setting up the safe zone during talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and US President Barack Obama. “I am the president of a sovereign country and I am not answerable to anyone except the Filipino people”, Duterte scoffed in a speech Monday.

He also the US wants to avoid a cyber espionage arms race with other world powers.

“This discussion goes to the heart of how we build an economy that works for everyone”, she said. “I think we have reached mutual understanding”, he told reporters, adding that the nations’ top diplomats have now been tasked with working further on the “technical” questions.

“What we can not do is have a situation in which this becomes the wild, wild West in which countries that have significant cyber capacity start engaging in competition, unhealthy competition”, Obama said.

Obama said his talks with Putin included a direct message about cyber war, seen as a warning to Russian Federation. Saying that they discussed “a range of issues”, the American president noted the situation in Syria was the most important of them.

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.

The White House wants to determine whether the Minsk ceasefire can be implemented beforeObama leaves office in January, or whether economic sanctions on Russian Federation will need to be extended, the official said.

G20 leaders met Monday under pressure to reboot the world economy, but a stumbling push for a Syria ceasefire and Asia’s heated territorial disputes intruded on the summit in Hangzhou.

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.

Eager to show he wouldn’t yield, Obama said he would “undoubtedly” still bring up human rights and due process concerns “if and when” the two do meet.

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She said the Australian trade minister would visit Britain this week for exploratory talks on the shape of a British-Australian trade deal.

President Obama John Kerry at G20