IF LOOKS COULD KILL
Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin in tense G20 standoff as the famously hostile pair fail to reach a breakthrough on Syria
Grinning Putin shakes hands with stony-faced Obama after US President was snubbed by Chinese hosts
PRESIDENT Obama shared a tense exchange with Russian premier Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in China this morning as the two failed to agree over a ceasefire in Syria.
They were pictured shaking hands in an icy encounter at the gathering of leaders from the world’s twenty biggest economies in Hangzou.
It comes after weeks of talks between US and Russian diplomats have failed to turn up an agreement on bringing peace to the war-torn country.
Russia is firmly backing barrel-bombing dictator Bashar Al-Assad, providing military assistance and war planes.
America is on the side of moderate anti-Assad rebels and Kurdish forces leading the ground fight against ISIS.
Sly Putin could be seen grinning as he clasped hands with stony-faced Obama, who is serving the final months of his Presidency before November’s election.
Relations with Russia have become central to the campaigns of Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump after the alleged hack by Moscow spooks of Democratic Party emails.
The leak of internal memos seemed to suggest a conspiracy to keep former Presidential nominee Bernie Sanders from winning the party’s candidacy.
The revelations led to the resignation of Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Obama’s meeting with Putin resulted in an agreement to step up negotiations and intelligence sharing.
However, Obama has made it clear he doesn’t believe Russia will stick to the deal after he insisted on a permanent ceasefire rather than past temporary truces.
Tensions in Ukraine and cyber security were also discussed, but further details were not revealed.
Their exchange comes after Obama’s final presidential tour of Asia began in farce when he was snubbed by Chinese hosts the moment he landed in the country.
Officials at Hangzhou airport have been accused of deliberately failing to provide a staircase for the president to disembark from Air Force One on Sunday.
His aides and American journalists were also hassled by state officials on the runway.
Heads of state, finance ministers and central bank governors from the world’s leading economies have met at the first G20 summit to be held in China.
Yesterday China’s President Xi Jinping told leader’s to avoid empty talk and focus on the world economy, which he described as at a “critical juncture”.
Discussed at the first day of the summit were the global steel crisis, trade barriers, and the UK’s Brexit plans.
Prime Minister Theresa May has faced tough stances during her first international summit as leader.
What is the G20?
The G20, or group of 20, is an international meeting between heads of states, finance ministers and central bank governors from the world’s leading economies.
Founded in 1999 to give developing countries a more powerful voice in the global economy, the summit brings together industrialised and emerging economies.
The group makes up 85 per cent of the world’s GDP and two-thirds of its population.
When it was first started, only finance ministers and central bank governors met at G20 summits.
But a meeting was held between heads of state after the Lehman Brothers crash in 2008, which led to a global recession.
There has been a yearly meeting between G20 country leaders since. Between 2009 and 2010, when the global economy was in crisis, leaders met twice a year.
Since the first meeting in Berlin, 1999, there have been 18 G20 summits between finance ministers and central bank governors.
There have been 10 between heads of state or the government of G20 economies.
Much of G20’s work takes place on the sidelines and in informal meetings – not at the annual summit.
Japan is also reported to have issued No10 with a 15 page warning saying firms would leave the UK unless they are still able to trade freely with the EU’s 27 other states.
Mrs May can also anticipate frosty discussions with President Xi Jinping after she postponed the Hinkley Point Nuclear Project.
A final decision on the £18bn nuclear plant is expected to be made later this month.
For everything you need to know about the G20 summit click here.