Obama Cancels Meeting with Putin in Moscow Amid Tensions Over NSA leaker Snowden

[Cha]

83. PBO canceled putin's ass for a variety of

of reasons and many Americans would actually approve of them..

"Given our lack of progress on issues such as missile defense and arms control, trade and commercial relations, global security issues, and human rights and civil society in the last 12 months, we have informed the Russian government that we believe it would be more constructive to postpone the summit until we have more results from our shared agenda," the White House said.

"We're not in the business of doing summits just to do summits," the official told CNN."

Despite canceling the Moscow talks with Putin, the White House said a meeting set for Friday between Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel with their Russian counterparts would proceed "to discuss how we can best make progress moving forward on the full range of issues in our bilateral relationship."

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/07/politics/obama-putin/

snip//

"President Barack Obama said Tuesday he has “no patience for countries that try to treat gays or lesbians or transgender persons in ways that intimidate them or are harmful to them.”

Speaking to “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno, the president was asked by the host about recent legislation in Russia that cracks down on gay rights.

“Do you think it will affect the Olympics?” Leno asked the President, whose own views on the subject have evolved in the course of his presidency. Russia is slated to host the Winter Olympics in 2014, in the city of Sochi.

Obama was adamant. “Every judgment should be made on the track, or in the swimming pool, or on the balance beam, and people’s sexual orientation shouldn’t have anything to do with it.”

He also noted Russia’s eagerness for a successful Olympic games, saying "I think they understand that for most of the countries that participate in the Olympics, we wouldn't tolerate gays and lesbians being treated differently.”

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/08/07/president-obama-no-patience-for-anti-lgbt-laws-in-russia/