HANGZHOU (Sputnik) – Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed hope Monday that Russia and the United States could fully normalize their bilateral relations.
"I hope it [the discussion of the sanctions issues] will happen someday, and the full-scale normalization of relations, including with the United States, which of course is a very important partner for us, will happen," Putin told repoters.
The president called the United States a key partner of Russia on security issues.
"I think it is too early to talk about concrete parameters of our agreements, but I do hope that if agreements are made – I have reasons to expect as much in the coming days – we may say that our common work with the US in the fight against terrorist organizations, including in Syria, will get a significant boost," Putin said.
Putin and Obama met for bilateral talks on the sidelines of the Group of Twenty (G20) summit in Hangzhou on Monday.
"The theme of the sanctions was touched upon, but only in passing, we did not discuss anything in detail, but I do not see the point of discussing any issues of this kind. It was not our initiative to bring out such restrictions. It seems that this is a thing of the future, discussing such issues, if we ever start discussing them," Putin said.
The Russian president said that his discussion with his US counterpart was detailed and thorough.
"I believe that we reached mutual understanding, an understanding of the issues before us, but technical details still must be elaborated," he added.