Russian President Vladimir Putin said he and U.S. President Barack Obama stuck to their positions over Syria but listened to each other during a one-on-one meeting on the sidelines of a G20 summit on Friday and are looking for ways forward.
"He doesn't agree with me, I don't agree with him but we listened to each other," Putin said of the "very constructive" 20-minute meeting.
Putin blamed an alleged chemical attack on opponents of the Syrian government, saying it was a provocation, and suggested that a punitive U.S. military strike on the Middle Eastern nation would harm the global economy and stifle growth.
Obama, during his own press conference shortly after, again held the Assad regime responsible for the attack and warned that failure to take action would embolden further use of chemical weapons by "rogue nations."
Obama said Russia and other nations ultimately will need to set aside their differences to work on a long-term political solution for Syria.
"I'm not itching for military action," he said.
Canada and a number of other countries at the G20 are pledging further help to protect Syrian civilians from violence, as few nations appeared willing to back a military strike against the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced today in a statement that the government would contribute $45 million in further help for Syria. The money will go to organizations that provide food, clean water, sanitation, shelter and protection to civilians, as well as Syrians who have fled the country. Canada has contributed a total of $203.5 million since last January.
The announcement came shortly after Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird met with British Prime Minister David Cameron, United Nations secretary general Ban ki-Moon, and ministers and officials from five other countries.
Cameron said the British government would be contributing an additional $85 million towards medical training and assistance to specifically help civilians who had been harmed in a chemical attack.
"I hope we can send a strong signal that we can act, and act specifically to relieve this appalling suffering caused by the war crime of chemical weapons use," Cameron said.
Cameron also said British scientists had confirmed the use of chemical weapons in the attack that hit a Damascus suburb two weeks ago. That echoes the conclusions drawn by France and the United States based on their own intelligence.
But despite discussing Syria late into the night Thursday, there was far from a consensus or even a majority viewpoint on whether or not to punish Assad with a military strike.
So far, only Canada, France, Turkey and the United States are openly backing the use of force. Cameron has supported the idea, but the British Parliament voted down a resolution call for it. The European Council has also weighed in, saying nations needed to address the Syrian crisis through United Nations channels — echoing the stance of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
U.S. President Barack Obama faces an even greater challenge than convincing G20 countries to support his stance on Syria — he is also fighting to gain Congress' backing for a military strike.
World economy improving
The G20 is expected to say today in its summit communique that the global economy is improving, but that it is too early to declare an end to crisis, according to a Russian official involved in its drafting.
"Compared to the start of the Russian presidency there has definitely been a shift in the assessment, and that is reflected in the leaders' communique," Andrei Bokarev, head of the Finance Ministry's international relations department, told Reuters.
"But it's definitely too early to say that the crisis has been overcome and that it will be easy from now on."
The summit debate on the health of the world economy, chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday evening, was "difficult" and reflected concerns about a growth slowdown in the developing world.
"The most difficult and time-consuming discussions related to the evaluation of the situation of global economy," Bokarev said in an interview on the sidelines of the two-day summit in St. Petersburg.
The prospect that the U.S. Federal Reserve may rein in its expansive monetary policies as soon as this month has vexed emerging economies that had enjoyed rapid growth thanks to a flood of cheap dollars into the world economy.
"The communique of course reflects that developed economies' share in global economic growth will be larger than that of emerging markets," Bokarev said.
"The communique states that developing economies are making a big contribution to global growth, but at the same time it is obvious there is a slowing trend."
Japan, China meet
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping shook hands and exchanged words on the sidelines of a G20 summit on Thursday, the Japanese government said, in an unexpected show of cordiality.
Relations between the world's second- and third-largest economies have been troubled for months because of a row over tiny, uninhabited islands in the East China Sea known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China.
There are also disputes over the countries' wartime past.
Abe is keen to improve ties and has called for dialogue with China, though he has rejected any conditions on talks. China has shown no inclination to respond to the overtures.
"Even though it was a brief greeting, it means a lot. The Japanese and Chinese leaders directly exchanged words for the first time since taking office," Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters on Friday.
In the contact shortly before G20 leaders began their main session, Abe told Xi that the two countries should advance bilateral ties by upholding the spirit of mutually beneficial, strategic relationship, Suga said, without elaborating.
Xi told Abe that China-Japan relations were facing grave difficulties and reiterated China's position that Japan should correctly deal with such sensitive issues by facing up to its history and seeking a way to properly manage differences and address the problems, China's Foreign Ministry said.
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