The coldest handshake: Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin photographed in brief frosty exchange at Peru summit
Amid angry clash over Syria and Russian support for Trump
- President Obama pictured speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin
- Two leaders spoke briefly at an economic summit in Peru on Sunday
- They stood off to the side before shaking hands and taking their seats
- It is their first known conversation since Donald Trump was elected
- It comes amid speculation about whether Trump’s election might herald a more conciliatory U.S. approach to Russia
President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin were photographed in a brief exchange in Peru amid frosty dealings over Syria.
They spoke briefly 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.
The two leaders were seen chatting as reporters were allowed in briefly for 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.
It was unclear what the two were discussing, and their words weren’t audible to journalists present.
The White House did not immediately provide details about the content of their conversation.
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.
It follows revelations Putin is expected to contact Trump once he takes over in the White House to get his agreement on bombing targets in Syria.
The Russian ambassador to London, Alexander Yakovenko, said Putin had been trying to persuade outgoing President Barack Obama to agree to Russian pilots bombing rebel targets but relations between Obama and Putin were at a low ebb.
Mr Yakovenko told the Sunday Mirror: ‘Use of the air force in Syria is part of a diplomacy backed by force.
‘We have been trying to coordinate with this US Administration. We’ll continue doing so with the next one.’
Britain and the US wanted to impose ‘no fly zones’ above Aleppo to stop the indiscriminate slaughter of civilians on the ground by Russians planes targeting rebels in the east of the city.
Recent airstrikes in Aleppo hit a complex of four hospitals, including the paediatric facility, that had been attacked two days earlier.
The bombings reportedly left the rebel-held east of the city without a functioning hospital, although this claim was contested by the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
One doctor at the children’s hospital, who identified himself only as Hatem, rushed 14 babies in incubators to another facility a 10-minute drive away while the strikes continued.
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 with Putin 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.