President Obama freezes relationship with Russia's Putin at a most crucial moment in his presidency. Key foreign policy issues are at stake on Syria, ME peace talks, Iran uranium enrichment, and START negotiations. Obama thinks he is tough? Does he lend his ear to new assistent Susan Rice? This will be an embarassment to John Kerry who is doing an immense job to gain achievements on a broad range of issues. Who is responsible to send McCain and Graham on a fool's errand? This effort was counterproductive to the stance taken by Kerry a few days earlier. The promise by Obama to work closely with Putin during his second term can be put on ice ... return of cold war dogma. Putin will not take this snub lightly, it will be personal. Putin could send Medvedev to the G20 summit and avoid meeting Obama fully. Putin was not willing to offer whistleblower Snowden to the pyre of DC mania in the US. I'll give Putin credit for that. [Not for many troubling domestic issues within Russia, which would have been a better argument - Oui]

Kremlin 'disappointed' Obama calls off Putin talks

(RT.com) - By calling off Obama's visit to Moscow, the US has shown it is not ready to build relations on an equal footing, the Kremlin says. The Snowden situation, on which the decision was based, is not Russia's fault, presidential aide Yury Ushakov stressed.

Earlier today US President Barack Obama canceled a meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow which was scheduled for September. The move came after Russia's recent decision to grant temporary asylum to NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

The White House cited the lack of progress in "missile defense and arms control, trade and commercial relations, global security issues, and human rights and civil society in the last 12 months" as the grounds for the move, adding that Russia's "disappointing decision" to grant Snowden asylum was also among the factors.  

Washington's decision showed that the US will readily "sacrifice their bilateral relations with Russia" for the issues of their "internal agenda," said Andrey Klimov, vice chairman of the Federation Council's International Affairs Committee.

"We shall not forget such a behavior, but it can by no means signal a start of another Cold War," Klimov stressed, adding that there are "too many issues" that Russia and the US still need to be working on together.

Obama chooses Sweden as alternate and 'Green' destination

Before traveling to Russia, the President will travel to Stockholm, Sweden, on September 4 and 5.  Sweden is a close friend and partner to the United States.  Sweden plays a key leadership role on the international stage, including in opening new trade and investment opportunities through the U.S.-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, advancing clean technologies, and promoting environmental sustainability.

G20 financiers agree to keep global economy more predictable

# Biden spoke about the Obama administration's desire to "reset" U.S.-Russian relations