No sign of Thaw in Obama’s Brief Encounters with Putin

U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin had multiple informal encounters during a meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders in Beijing that opened the way to at least brief discussions of issues that have frozen ties between their two nations.

The two leaders greeted each other last night during a session of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and then crossed paths several times today as they joined other heads of state at working sessions hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“On three occasions throughout the day, for a total of approximately 15-20 minutes, President Obama had an opportunity to speak with President Putin. Their conversations covered Iran, Syria, and Ukraine,” White House National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said in a statement.

Waging Financial War

Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, provided a similar readout of the discussions. Meehan and Peskov provided no other details, and there were no signs the differences between the countries were bridged.

The U.S.-Russia relationship has grown increasingly tense over Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its support for separatists battling the Ukrainian government. The U.S. and its allies have escalated economic sanctions that combined with low oil prices have pushed Russia to the verge of its second recession in five years.

Sanctions Threat

The U.S. joined the European Union on 10 November in threatening to further tighten sanctions. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki blamed Russia for continuing to arm separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine, where a cease-fire has crumbled over the past week.

Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, said said the sanctions so far haven’t yet forced Russia to alter its actions and that will force an additional international response if Putin doesn’t alter his course.

Obama and Putin last met in June in France at ceremonies to mark the anniversary of the D-Day invasion during World War II. Remarks at the time were brief and didn’t cover substantial issues as relations between the two nations worsened.

Obama and Putin also are scheduled to attend the G-20 summit of developed and developing nations in Brisbane, Australia, later this week.

The strains from the conflict in Ukraine were evident for Putin during other parts of the summit.