Obama said that the world is “moving into a new era where a number of countries have significant capacities”, before noting that the United States has “more capacity than anybody, both offensively and defensively” when it comes to cyber weapons.
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The press-secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, earlier said that the meeting went well and lasted longer than planned.
They also discussed Ukraine and US concerns over cyber-security.
HANGZHOU, China German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday that G20 countries are working on rules to improve conditions for investment in Africa and added she believed it was urgent for more direct foreign investment to flow to the continent.
Their discussion came hours after top USA and Russian diplomats failed to seal a deal aimed at providing access to humanitarian aid for thousands of civilians in the war-torn country.
“Given the gaps of trust that exist, that’s a tough negotiation”, Obama said at a news conference closing the Group of 20 summit. Even as top diplomats vowed to keep trying, President Barack Obama expressed skepticism that an unlikely alliance between rivals would yield the breakthrough needed to end the 5-year-old civil war.
“President Obama and President Putin were not going to get down into the weeds of the language of an agreement and the implementation associated with the agreement”, the official said.
The official said Obama raised concerns about cybersecurity issues with Putin, but would not detail the discussions. -Russian militarily partnership against extremist groups operating in Syria.
But the focus on climate quickly gave way to the failed Syria talks.
The two leaders also discussed “cyber issues”, but the official didn’t say whether Mr. Obama raised possible Russian involvement in the hacking of the Democratic National Committee. Security firms named Russian Federation as the suspect in a hack of US political party groups including the Democratic National Committee.
That prompted Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, to say he would have refused to meet with Chinese officials if he were treated that way, calling it “such a sign of disrespect”.
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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.
