US President Barack Obama has canceled plans to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for a one-on-one summit next month, the White House said Wednesday, saying Moscow’s “disappointing decision” to grant asylum to US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden was a factor in the move.
“We have reached the conclusion that there is not enough recent progress in our bilateral agenda with Russia to hold a US-Russia Summit in early September,” the White House said in the statement.
“Russia’s disappointing decision to grant Edward Snowden temporary asylum was also a factor that we considered in assessing the current state of our bilateral relationship,” the White House added.
The two leaders had been scheduled to meet in Moscow early next month ahead of the G20 meeting of top world leaders that begins Sept. 5 in St. Petersburg. Mr. Obama still plans to attend the G-20 summit scheduled for early September.
