Moscow: Obama's visit to Russia postponed, not cancelled

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. President Barack Obama's official visit to Russia has been postponed, not cancelled, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Thursday, August 22, according to RIA Novosti.

“The visit has been postponed, not cancelled,” Alexander Lukashevich said. “The invitation that Mr. Obama has is still in force, and we hope that he will use it at some point in time.”

Obama was due to visit Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of the G20 forum in St. Petersburg in early September, but the U.S. called off the visit earlier in the month, citing Russia’s granting of temporary asylum to fugitive former U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden.

Two weeks ago, Obama called for “a pause” in U.S. relations with Russia, while both countries stressed that cooperation is crucial to their mutual interests and to the world despite clear differences on a broad range of issues.