Excellent course

US President Barack Obama canceled a meeting with his Russian colleague Vladimir Putin, reports Associated Press with reference to a high -ranking White House official. The meeting was supposed to hold in early September in Moscow, during the visit of Obama to Russia for the Great Twenth summit. In the summit itself, which will take place in St. Petersburg, Obama will take part, but there will be no bilateral negotiations with Putin and will not be held there.

The White House is dissatisfied with the provision of political asylum to the exposure of the American special services to Edward Snowden, the agency’s interlocutor explained. Also, he added, the US administration is disappointed with Russia's position on other key issues. Among them, the official called the problems of the about and human rights.

On the eve of Obama, in an interview with NBC, he said that he was planning to participate in the St. Petersburg summit, but he did not specify whether he was planning a bilateral meeting with Putin.

In addition, the American president sharply criticized the Russian law on the prohibition of "propaganda of non -traditional sexual relations." According to the US President, he "does not tolerate countries in which the intimidation and oppression of gays, lesbians and transsexuals is practiced." Answering the question about the application of the homophobic law during the Sochi Olympics, Obama noted that the “bets are high” and Putin should ensure normal games. ” “I think they (Russian authorities. - Ed.) Understand that for most countries participating in the Olympics, discrimination against gays and lesbians is unacceptable,” the president emphasized.

According to Obama, Russia is "not unique" in its attitude to the LGBT community and he came across a similar approach during a recent visit to Africa.

Speaking about Russian-American relations, Obama noted that "there is a time when they slide back to the thinking and mentality of the Cold War." “But I tell President Putin that this is all in the past and that we should think about the future,” the American leader added. “And there is no reason why we cannot cooperate more effectively than we are working now.”