Obama-Putin meeting not on G20 summit agenda: U.S. officialAugust 31, 2013 - 12:30 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A bilateral meeting between presidents of Russia and the United States is not on the agenda of the G20 summit in St. Petersburg due in early September, a senior U.S. administration official said on Friday, August 30, according to RIA Novosti. “At this time there is no bilateral meeting or pull-aside expected between the presidents, although…the [U.S.] president and President Putin are going to have many opportunities to engage during the course of the G20 session” the official said. Barack Obama cancelled his scheduled meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow, planned for early September, after Russia gave temporary asylum to U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Showden. Relations between Moscow and Washington were further strained by differences over last week’s reported chemical weapons attack in Syria. The Syrian issue will undoubtedly be raised by the G20 leaders during the summit, the White House official said. “There’s, at this point, no formal session or event that would involve Syria, but we know that leaders will be talking about it,” he said. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |