Syria Shadows Start Of G-20 Summit

04:58

September 05, 2013

Russia's President Vladimir Putin, left, reaches out to shake hands with U.S. President Barack Obama during arrivals for the G-20 summit at the Konstantin Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013. (Dmitry Lovetsky/AP)

President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin won't be holding a one-on-one meeting at the economic summit in St. Peterburg, but they did share a handshake as President Obama arrived in Russia today.

President Obama is pushing for military action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for his alleged use of chemical weapons, but Russia is one of Syria's few allies and President Putin says it would be absurd for Assad to risk retaliation by killing his own people with chemical weapons.

How to respond in Syria will be the elephant in the room at this economic meeting.

Guest

Corey Flintoff, Moscow correspondent for NPR. He tweets @CoreyFlintoff.

This segment aired on September 5, 2013.

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