(Newswire.net — September 25, 2015) — Russian president Vladimir Putin and US president Barack Obama will talk on Monday, 28 September, in New York at the UN General Assembly, the Russia Today cited Kremlin secretary Dmitry Peskov.
“A meeting with Obama has been coordinated,” Peskov said, adding that the Russian leader will also be negotiating with Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe.
According to Peskov, Syria will be at the top of the agenda. That is not a surprise because Mr. Putin recently announced that Russian air force would encounter ISIS in Syria, with or without coordination with U.S., which President Obama marked as an extremely dangerous move. The Russian drones reportedly are already scanning the area and the media reported that the presence of Russian troops in Syria is not a matter of if, but when.
When asked whether the crisis in Ukraine will also be discussed, Poskov replied that it would be on the agenda “if there is enough time,” implying the talks would be short.
According to the press secretary, the meeting will last from 50 minutes to an hour and will take place after the Russian president’s address at the 70th session of the UN General Assembly on September 28.
The White House also confirmed that the two leaders would meet and discuss Russia’s contribution to “what is already an ongoing multi-nation coalition” in Syria.
Celeste Wallander, the White House National Security Council’s senior director for Russia, said “there’s a lot of talk.” According to her, now is the time for “Russia to come clean and come clear on just exactly how it proposes to be a constructive contributor to what is already an ongoing multi-nation coalition.”
The meeting comes at the request of the Russian side and it would be irresponsible of President Obama to skip this chance, Reuters cited a senior official in Obama’s administration. In addition, the Reuters source allegedly said that the US President will “take advantage of this meeting to discuss Ukraine, and he will be focused on ensuring Moscow lives up to the Minsk commitments.”
The two leaders last meet in person a year ago during an APEC summit in China and have only talked on the phone a few times since then.