Obama talks Afghanistan with Russian president

President Obama had a full day of activities with President Dimitri Medvedev, who spent yesterday touring the Silicon Valley in Calif. This weekend, they attend the G 20 Conference in Canada. Our reporter, Connie Lawn, attended their news conference in the ornate East Room of the White House Before that, President Obama took a huge Russian contingent, including Medvedev, to a hamburger joint in nearby Virginia!

At the news conference, the major questions centered around Afghanistan, and violence and unrest in former Soviet Republics. The leaders said they were frank about differences in approach. President Obama said US policy towards Afghanistan would not "skip a beat" with the change in command. He repeated the departure of General McChrystal was a change in personnel, and not in policy. He also said the date of July, 2011, is the time for major reassessment of US policy and strategy in Afghanistan - it is not the time for a wholesale withdrawal. They did not discuss the growing unease in this country and overseas with the war in Afghanistan.

Both leaders welcome China's reassessment of financial policy, and await further details and developments. This will be one of the major topics at the G 8 and G 20 Summit in Canada.

In general, the American and Russian leaders appeared to have developed a genuine rapport and respect. President Obama said they had excellent discussions, and have a cooperative, not an adversarial relationship. Russia plans to buy 50 Boeing aircraft from the US, and has reopened its markets to US chicken - a lucrative market.

The men said they made progress on issues of nuclear control, sanctions against Iran, violent extremists, and intelligence cooperation. They joked about discussing chicken, hamburger, and nuclear weapons at the same time. They also praised Twitter, with President Obama saying they could tweet each other and do away with the old red emergency phones! Connie Lawn in the White House

ENDS

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