Obama’s historic week, meetings set with Putin and Raul Castro

Kicking off a historic week, President Obama will meet with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Cuba’s Raul Castro on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. Putin, who is set to meet Obama tomorrow, has preemptively commented on some issues that the leaders are thought to discuss, sharply criticizing the U.S. involvement in Syria. In an interview with U.S. networks, Putin also mentioned Russia had no plans “right now” to put combat troops on the ground in Syria, but would continue backing the Syrian government.

We are considering intensifying our work with both President Assad and with our partners in other countries.

Putin

The second meeting, between Mr Obama and Mr Castro, will be on Tuesday. The two estranged leaders previously met in April at the Summit of the Americas in Panama City, marking the first time in more than 50 years that the two countries held face-to-face talks. Among the likely topics to be discussed is the Obama administration’s decision on whether to abstain from the annual UN vote condemning the US trade embargo against Cuba. The move would mark the first time Washington has declined to oppose the resolution, which criticises American law. Mr Obama has been pressing Congress to scrap the 54-year embargo since December.

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