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MOSCOW – The Kremlin expressed disappointment yesterday over US President Barack Obama’s decision to cancel a trip to Asia that could have seen him discuss the Syria crisis with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.“We are disappointed that there will be no meeting,” Russian news agencies quoted Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.
“There is a great need in our bilateral relations for a dialogue at the highest level,” Peskov said.
The two sides “have a wealth of issues on their agenda, including and foremost international issues headed by Syria.”
Obama scrapped trips to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bali on Monday and the subsequent East Asia summit in Brunei because of the federal budget crisis gripping the United States.
Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov had said on Thursday that the two presidents could meet on the sidelines of the Bali summit to discuss issues including the Syria crisis.
US Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to represent Washington at both events. Peskov said that Putin himself was unlikely to meet Kerry in Bali but that the top Washington diplomat could have talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
Russia and the United States struck a deal last month to disarm the Syrian regime of its chemical weapons following a 21 August nerve agent attack near Damascus that Washington believes claimed more than 1 400 lives. – AFP.
Online Reporter