Both Russian and USA officials said the meeting – which was held in a conference room at the G20 summit site here – lasted longer than planned, and that leaders spent the bulk of their meeting discussing Syria.
Advertisement
“It was mainly the two of us who had the discussion, going into detail”.
G20 leaders also formulated the high-level principles on persons sought for corruption and asset recovery, and a G20 2017-2018 anti-corruption action plan, said Xi, who carried out extensive anti-graft drive in which thousands of officials including some top leaders were punished.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with his United States countepart Barack Obama during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders Summit in Hangzhou on September 5, 2016. “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.
The United States and Russia came up short Sunday on an agreement to end more than five years of civil war between Syria’s Russian-backed government and US -supported rebels.
In a press conference after his meeting with Putin, Obama said, “We have had some productive conversations about what a real cessation of hostilities would look like to allow us to both focus our energies on common enemies”. Saying that they discussed “a range of issues”, the American president noted the situation in Syria was the most important of them.
Obama’s meeting with Putin came as the Russian leader is playing a prominent role in the presidential campaign at home.
U.S. officials have blamed Russian Federation for the recent hacking of the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) servers, and law enforcement and intelligence agencies are reportedly concerned about the Kremlin trying to disrupt or undermine the presidential elections.
Russian Federation is even beginning to get cozy with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member Turkey, with the blessing of the Obama Administration, which doesn’t seem to understand how angry the regime of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan became with the US government, after July’s unsuccessful coup attempt.
Russian Federation has complained of increasing overlap between the opposition and terrorist groups on the ground, and it said it was up to the United States to separate them before a deal could be struck.
On Monday, Obama admitted that he and his Russian counterpart had tough work ahead to close the gaps between them, which he called “grave differences” on ending the conflict.
As for the normalization of Turkey-Russia relations, Putin said the process was ongoing and both peoples sincerely wanted to improve bilateral ties.
Obama added, “Part of what I’ve tried to communicate to President Xi [Jinping] is that the United States arrives at its power, in part, by restraining itself”.
“He’s exercising his constitutional right to make a statement”, Obama said.
Advertisement
Xi said at the closing meeting that leaders attending the summit made a decision to point the way and set the course for the world economy.
