Brief Conversation Between Obama and Putin on the Sidelines of APEC Summit in Peru

On Sunday, U.S. President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, briefly met and discussed the Syrian and Ukrainian crises during the APEC summit held in Lima, Peru. An unnamed White House official told Reuters that the meeting lasted only four minutes. The official stated that Obama emphasized the commitment of the U.S. and its allies to Ukraine's sovereignty and urged Putin to adhere to the Minsk agreements. Obama also stressed the need to pursue initiatives by the foreign ministers of both countries in collaboration with the international community 'to reduce violence and alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people.' In this context, the Russian news agency TASS reported that the two presidents underscored the necessity of continuing contact between their foreign ministers to resolve the Syrian crisis until the new U.S. government is formed. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, noted that it was emphasized in the meeting that the remaining two months of Obama's administration should be spent seeking solutions for the Syrian crisis, and they agreed that Sergey Lavrov and John Kerry would continue their communications. Peskov also mentioned that both presidents expressed regret over the lack of progress in the Ukrainian crisis. Russia and the U.S. had close contacts on issues such as the Syrian crisis and previously the nuclear file, but in recent months, they have experienced a rather cold relationship. Part of the chill in relations is related to the Ukrainian crisis and the annexation of Crimea by Russia, which the U.S. does not recognize and blames Russia for supporting Ukrainian rebels. In recent months, during the U.S. election campaigns, the Russian government has repeatedly been accused by the U.S. of interfering in the elections, particularly through hacking Democratic emails, an accusation denied by Russian officials. However, Donald Trump's ascension to the presidency could present a different horizon in the relations between the two countries, as Trump praised Russia and its president multiple times during his campaign, and Russia warmly welcomed his election victory. Among the figures Trump has introduced for his cabinet, Michael Flynn, his national security advisor, has a positive stance towards Russia, but if speculation about Mitt Romney's appointment as Secretary of State is correct, Russia will have a staunch critic in Trump's cabinet.