Obama, Russia's Putin speak at economic summit in Peru
Sunday, November 20, 2016
VietPress USA (Nov. 20th, 2016): Today on Sunday, Nov. 20th, 2016 at the Economic Summit in Peru, President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin met and discussed abot the siuations in Syria and Ukraine. Please read the news on ail.com at the following Link: https://www.mail.com/news/politics/4770724-obama-russias-putin-speak-economic-summit-peru.html
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The White
House said the conversation lasted four minutes. Although reporters present
couldn't hear what they said, the White House said Obama encouraged Putin to
uphold his country's commitments under the Minsk deal aimed at ending the
Ukraine conflict. The White House said Obama also called for U.S. Secretary of
State John Kerry and Russian Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov to keep working in
initiatives with other countries to lower violence in Syria and alleviate suffering.
oOo
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VietPress USA News Agency
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LIMA, Peru
(AP) — President Barack Obama spoke briefly with Russian President Vladimir
Putin about Syria and Ukraine on Sunday as an economic summit got under way in
Peru, in their first known conversation since Donald Trump was elected the next
U.S. president.
U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during a meeting with China's President Xi
Jingping during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Lima, Peru,
Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016. Sitting with Obama are from l-r., Deputy National
Security Adviser For Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes, Ambassador Michael
Froman, United States Trade Representative, and National Security Adviser Susan
Rice.
November 20,
2016
The two
leaders were seen chatting at the start of the opening session of the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima. They stood off to the side
together momentarily with aides close by before shaking hands and then taking
their seats around a table.
 |
Barack Obama, Susan Rice, Ben Rhodes, Michael Froman
The short
interaction came amid intense speculation and concern about whether Trump's
election might herald a more conciliatory U.S. approach to Russia. Under Obama,
the U.S. has enacted severe sanctions on Russia over its aggressive behavior in
Ukraine and has sought unsuccessfully to persuade Moscow to stop intervening in
Syria's civil war to help prop up Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Trump and
Putin have already signaled they may pursue a less antagonistic relationship
after Trump takes office in January. In a phone call shortly after Trump was
elected, Putin congratulated him and expressed readiness for a
"partner-like dialogue," the Kremlin said.
In the
run-up to the election, the U.S. also accused Russia of trying to interfere in
the election, including by hacking into Democratic Party email systems. Obama
has raised concerns directly to Putin ahead of the election about Russian
hacking, and the U.S. also registered complaints through a hotline set up to
avert accidental nuclear war.
Throughout
the campaign, the Kremlin insisted that it had no favorites and rejected the
claims of interference in the U.S. election. The meeting came as Obama prepared
for planned separate talks with the leaders of Australia and Canada before
wrapping up the final foreign trip of his presidency.
Both
countries helped negotiate a multinational trade agreement with the U.S. and
nine other Pacific Rim countries. But Congress is unlikely to ratify the deal,
dealing a blow to Obama's once high hopes of having the agreement become part
of his presidential legacy.
Trump says
trade deals can hurt U.S. workers, and he opposes the sweeping Trans-Pacific
Partnership agreement. Besides participating in meetings Sunday with other
world leaders attending the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Forum taking place in
Peru's capital, Obama was sitting down first with Prime Minister Malcolm
Turnbull of Australia, a U.S. ally and partner in the trans-Pacific trade deal.
The
president also planned to speak with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,
whose nation is another TPP partner. Before boarding Air Force One for the
flight to Washington, Obama was to answer questions from the journalists who
accompanied him to Greece, Germany and Peru.
Trump's
election overshadowed every stop on Obama's trip. The president went to once
unimaginable lengths to defend the real-estate mogul and reality TV star who he
had repeatedly denounced during the campaign as "temperamentally
unfit" and "uniquely unqualified" to be president.
"I
think it will be important for everybody around the world to not make immediate
judgments, but give this new president-elect a chance to put their team
together, to examine the issues, to determine what their policies will
be," Obama said in response to a question about Trump during a forum here
Saturday with some of Latin America's future leaders.
"As
I've always said, how you campaign isn't always the same as how you
govern," he added. Obama's suggestion is that Trump could soften some of
his more hard-line positions on immigration, terrorism and other issues once he
confronts the reality of having to run the country. But the candidates Trump
announced this past week for key national security posts — Alabama Sen. Jeff
Sessions for attorney general, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn for national
security adviser and Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo to lead the CIA — sent a signal
that Trump intends to lead exactly as he said he would during the campaign.
Leaders in
every region of the world have expressed concern about Trump's stances on
immigration, trade, NATO and other matters.
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