Russian president aide said on Friday that Moscow was prepared for the cancelation of US President’s visit, saying his country plans no retaliation for the US decision.
Russian president aide said on Friday that Moscow was prepared for the cancelation of US President’s visit, saying his country plans no retaliation for the US decision.
“We were prepared, given the discussio
ns in the press and the political background created in the US in connection with the Snowden problem,” Interfax quoted Vladimir Putin's top foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov, as saying.
“We were equally prepared for (Barack Obama’s) visit and for its cancelation,” he added.
“We take all this easily, aware that contacts will most likely be continued sooner or later.”
"We have received this calmly and know that sooner or later contacts will be resumed,” Ushakov noted, wondering: “How would we retaliate?”
“We said we were disappointed but emphasized the invitation remains in force."
The US cancelled bilateral talks between Putin and Obama in September, after the Kremlin granted asylum to intelligence leaker Edward Snowden.
However, Obama is still coming to Saint Petersburg for the September 5-6 G20 summit but Ushakov said no bilateral meeting with Putin is currently planned at this event.
