Moscow Trip for Obama May Be Off as Snowden Tensions Build

[morningfog]

WASHINGTON — President Obama may cancel a scheduled trip to Moscow to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin in September as the standoff over the fate of Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor seeking asylum there, takes its toll on already strained relations between the United States and Russia, officials said Thursday.

The White House announced the Moscow meeting in June as an extra stop on an already planned trip to St. Petersburg for the annual gathering of the Group of 20 nations. But while Mr. Obama is still committed to going to St. Petersburg, he is now rethinking the Moscow stop, not just because of the impasse over Mr. Snowden but due to a whole range of issues dividing the two countries.

A cancellation of the Moscow meeting would be seen as a direct slap at Mr. Putin, who is known to value such high-level visits as a validation of Russian prestige. While the White House may be using the meeting as leverage to win cooperation as it seeks the return to the United States of Mr. Snowden, who is now staying at Moscow’s airport, the reconsideration also reflects a broader concern that the two countries are far apart on issues like Syria, Iran, arms control and missile defense.

The White House has not publicly confirmed the prospect of scrubbing the Moscow meeting, but has sent unmistakable signals that it is now on the table. Asked directly on Wednesday if Mr. Obama is still going to Moscow before the G-20 meeting in St. Petersburg, Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, declined to say. “I can say that the president intends to travel to Russia for the G-20 summit,” Mr. Carney said. “I don’t have anything to add to what we’ve said in the past about that trip.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/19/world/europe/moscow-trip-for-obama-may-be-off-as-snowden-tensions-build.html?pagewanted=all

[Junkdrawer]

1. Get Your War On n/t

[GlashFordan]

2. Moscow is a beautiful city.

And just as metropolitan as NYC. The population of Moscow and St. Petersburg is quite diverse.
Russia is a culturally rich nation. You know one of the complaints of Bilingual Russians? They can't believe the English language is so bland and colorless compared to native Russian.
PBO and his family could do well spending time in Moscow. It's a great place to visit.

Regarding Snowden, the world isn't buying the horsecrap that Snowden is some sort of national security risk. He may be an embarassment but that's all.

[randome]

6. Der Spiegel would disagree with you.

They did the responsible thing and redacted the names of agents Snowden gave them.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]

[bigwillq]

3. Good. We have better things to do with our tax money.

[Whisp]

4. signals...

somebody's interpretation of smoke signals. some people say some smoke signals mean this, some people say some smoke signals mean that...

jesus.

[msongs]

5. Obama should stop building tensions if he wants to go to the land of the gay bashers nt