Naypyidaw - Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said he had been unable to hold a full-fledged conversation with US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Myanmar.
“From a personal standpoint, naturally, we wished each other all the best and sent our best wishes to each other’s families – it is standard practice in relations between people. Indeed, I have known him [Obama] for quite a long time,” Medvedev told reporters after the summit.
“Naturally, there was no fully fledged conversation at the summit,” he added.
Obama had a chance to speak to Putin at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China earlier this week and will have a similar opportunity on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brisbane, Australia, Medvedev said.
“Naturally, we discuss such nuances, but, obviously, it is not the kind of format that could allow us to resolve all existing problems,” the Russian prime minister said.
He reiterated the need to “stop resorting to sanctions and return to normal, calm and productive talks” in order to be able to settle today’s issues.
“Stability would then be restored. But it does not depend on us when it may happen because it was not us who introduced sanctions. It was our partners’ initiative. But, as you know, sanctions are a double-edged instrument. They do no good. I have already said this more than once,” Medvedev said.
“Sanctions always end in nothing – neither serious problems nor an overhaul of international relations,” the prime minister said.
“Indeed, they [sanctions] cause some inconvenience both to the target of these sanctions and those who introduce them, but they do not exert any significant influence on international relations,” especially if it is unilateral actions and sanctions adopted by individual states, not sanctions introduced by the international community in accordance with the UN Charter, Medvedev said.
