Obama, Putin to Meet at UN

In a statement sent to EFE and other media outlets, a top U.S. official explained that the request for the meeting was made by Putin, but he did not say exactly when it will take place, although both leaders are scheduled to address the General Assembly on Monday.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said that the meeting of the two leaders will take place after the meeting Putin will hold on Monday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

“Given the situations in Ukraine and Syria, despite our profound differences with Moscow, the president believes that it would be irresponsible not to test whether we can make progress through high-level engagement with the Russians,” the senior administration official said.

In particular, the official said that Washington’s “European partners” have emphasized the importance of sending a unified message to Moscow about the need to fully implement the Minsk accords regarding the situation in Ukraine.

The official also said that Obama will focus on trying to guarantee that Moscow “lives up to” the commitments adopted in Minsk and that will be “the core message” of his meeting with Putin.

In addition to the conflict in Ukraine, Washington is also concerned about the Russian military buildup in Syria, an attempt by the Kremlin to increase its support for President Bashar al Assad.

Obama and Putin spoke most recently by telephone in July about the historic nuclear agreement with Iran.

The two leaders held two brief meetings last year, but they have not had a formal meeting since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis.