“There is not a formal meeting between the president and Mr. Putin on the schedule but [that] has often been the case at the G-20 and other multilateral leaders meetings. We fully expect they’ll have ample opportunity for discussion directly,” Politico magazine quoted National Security Adviser Susan Rice as saying at a White House briefing in Washington.
The Syrian civil war is expected to take center stage at the G20 summit, which opens in Antalya this coming weekend.
Rice said everyone will be looking for a transition plan for Syria, though later in the briefing, she acknowledged concrete plans aren’t likely to come immediately because she views it as "a process."
When asked what Obama’s message would be if he did meet with Putin, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said: “I’m confident that the conversation will be shorter, if there is one over the course of this week, than it was back in September.”
