Obama, who is in China to attend the G20 trade summit, told Reuters that “western values and ideals” were at the heart of the issue, and hinted, specifically, that China was reluctant to accommodate the president and the media entourage that traveled with him because the nominally Communist state does not enjoy the same press freedoms as the U.S.
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Speaking after a 90-minute conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Obama said of the United States, “We’re moving into a new era here where a number of countries have significant capacities”.
It follows equally unsuccessful talks between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry. Moscow has sometimes questioned whether US-backed rebels really are moderate.
Russian Federation is among the supporters of the Syrian government while the USA backs militants fighting to topple Assad.
Obama said he would not comment on “specific investigations that are still live and active”, an apparent reference to a computer breach of the Democratic National Committee, which some USA officials have blamed on Russian Federation. Mr Putin has denied his government was involved, but cheered the release of the information.
“We [with Obama] basically had a discussion to look into details”.
The leaders also discussed the situation in Ukraine, as well as cybersecurity. Obama met earlier with French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the same issue.
The hard diplomacy on Syria set the tone for an uneven few days for Mr Obama on his last tour through Asia as president.
The visit opened on a high note, with the USA and China consummating their unlikely partnership on climate change by announcing they were both entering the global emissions-cutting deal reached previous year in Paris.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeated his previous call for establishing a no-fly zone in Syria, saying it would be needed to stop the flow of Syrian refugees into Turkey and other places.
Obama’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping also veered into delicate territory, with a lengthy White House description detailing how Obama had pressed Xi to abide by an global tribunal’s ruling against China over the South China Sea.
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Meanwhile, the Turkish president said Ankara was working with US-led coalition forces and Moscow to instate a ceasefire in Aleppo for the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha, expected around September 11.
