No separate meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Barack Obama was being planned at the upcoming Group of Twenty (G20) summit, a Kremlin official said Friday.
"Concerning Putin and Obama's meeting at the G20 summit, it was neither discussed nor planned. We have assumed earlier that (Obama's) full-format visit would take place," Xinhua quoted Yury Ushakov as saying.
Ushakov said he possessed no information on whether the two presidents were to talk by phone any time soon.
The G20 summit is slated for Sep 5-6 in St. Petersburg.
The Russian official also said the Kremlin was not surprised by the White House decision to drop a one-on-one summit originally scheduled for early next month in Moscow.
"We were ready, taking into account the discussions in mass media and the political background in the US in connection to Snowden's problem. We were ready both for the visit and for its delay," Ushakov said.
"We know that sooner or later the contacts would perhaps be continued," he said.
Ushakov said Russia was still ready to cooperate with the US over all bilateral and international issues.
"Whether Obama comes or not, we'll work through other available channels. The issues on the bilateral agenda are important in any circumstances," he said.
A White House spokesman Wednesday announced the cancellation of the Moscow summit, citing the Edward Snowden case as a lack of progress in bilateral relations.
