President Obama blamed “gaps of trust” between the U.S. and Russia for repeated failure to agree about how to deal with Syria.
Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin met and talked for an hour and half on Monday. It had been hoped that a deal on Syria could have been finally secured but those hopes were disappointed. There were no agreements. Officials nevertheless described the conversation as constructive.
The two met at the G20 Summit in China, a two-day gathering of the leaders of the world’s top economic powers. Obama and Putin discussed efforts to reach an agreement on Syria to reduce violence, provide humanitarian assistance and combat al Qaeda and its branches in multiple countries. Obama acknowledged ongoing differences with Russia over how to achieve a cessation of hostilities there.
“Given the gaps of trust that exist, that’s a tough negotiation, and we haven’t yet closed the gaps in a way where we think it would actually work,” Obama said.
Each president said they’d directed their head diplomats, Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, to continue working on a deal, although American officials said they would walk away if a near-term pact couldn’t be reached.
Obama also emphasized to Putin the need to implement fully the Minsk agreement, a 2014 ceasefire pact, and stressed that American sanctions against Russia will continue if Moscow doesn’t keep its word and implement the pact completely.
Obama said he brought up the topic of cybersecurity, noting that the U.S. has had problems with cyberintrustions from Russia.
“We’re moving into a new era here where a number of countries have significant capacities,” Obama said at a news conference after the summit ended. “Frankly, both offensively and defensively, we have more capacity.”
