Obama tussles with Putin, Duterte at G20 summit


President Barack Obama closed out his three days at the G20 economic summit in Hangzhou, China, on Monday by meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Obama called the conversations "productive," although he blamed issues of trust for preventing the two from agreeing on a plan for ending the war in Syria.
Still, Obama deemed Putin "less colorful" than Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has declared himself "no American puppet" in response to a pending confrontation from the White House over his extrajudicial killings of alleged drug dealers. "Who does [Obama] think he is? ... Son of a b----, I will swear at you," Duterte said during a Monday speech.
Obama and Duterte are supposed to meet in Laos later this week, although Obama suggested he might call the meeting off: "I always want to make sure if I'm having a meeting that it's productive and we're getting something done," he said.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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