US President Barack Obama is still eager to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and for relations with Russia to develop at the same pace, the White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Thursday, RIA Novosti reports.
Putin will not attend the G8 summit in Camp David on May 18-19 due to business forming a new government. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will attend the summit instead.
Presidential Assistant Arkady Dvorkovich said earlier that Medvedev will have bilateral talks with G8 leaders, including Obama. Putin will meet Obama at the G8 summit in Mexico in June, as stated in a telephone conversation of the two presidents.
Carney said that Russia and the US continue cooperating at the same pace. This includes discussions on missile defense. The White House spokesman did not clarify the topics for discussion at the G8 and G20 summits.
