Obama, Putin Seek to Smooth Tensions with Smiles, Syria Talks Scheduled for Dinner

Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday sought to smooth over weeks of tensions as they cordially shook hands at the G20 with diplomatic smiles for the cameras.

Obama's armored vehicle was among the last to arrive to be welcomed by Putin for the start of the G20 summit outside Saint Petersburg and, unusually, arrived with both the American and Russian flags on its bonnet.

Putin stood with his hands behind his back as Obama strode purposefully out of the car, arm extended in greeting, towards his Russian host.

In a brief encounter they shook hands, swapped some words possibly about the glorious late summer weather and managed smiles for the hordes of media waiting for the slightest hint of tension.

No bilateral meeting is scheduled between the pair but officials have left the door open to a less formal exchange during the course of the summit.

Meanwhile, the Russian head of state added the Syria crisis to the agenda of the G20 summit in Saint Petersburg, suggesting leaders should discuss it over dinner.

"Some participants have asked me to give the time and possibility to discuss other... very acute topics of international politics, in particular the situation around Syria," Putin told the opening plenary session of the summit.

"I suggest we do this during dinner so that we... in the first part can discuss the (economic) problems we had gathered here for and are key for the G20," he added.

Obama traveled to the G20 despite cancelling a planned bilateral summit in Moscow that was scheduled this week after relations reached a new post-Cold War low.

Rows over the conflict in Syria, Russia's awarding of asylum to U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden and tough laws passed by the Russian parliament have all caused deep tensions.

The two looked deeply ill at ease when they last met in Northern Ireland at the G8 summit in June, prompting Obama to later admit that his Russian counterpart sometimes looked like "the bored kid at the back of the classroom".

This prompted many analysts to speculate that the pair have a dire personal rapport but Putin denied this in a television interview Wednesday, describing Obama as "business-like and interesting".

A senior Chinese official said ahead of the G20 summit that a political solution is the only way to end the Syria crisis.

"War cannot solve the problem in Syria. The current situation shows that a political solution is the only way to solve the issue," spokesman for the Chinese delegation Qin Gang told reporters, urging "the concerned countries to be highly prudent and to be responsible".

In a separate matter, the White House said Thursday that Obama has decided to cancel his California trip early next week to prepare a resolution on military action against Syria which is to be put to Congress.

"The President's trip to California has been cancelled. He will remain in Washington to work on the Syrian resolution before Congress," the White House said.

Obama was initially scheduled to make a speech in Los Angeles at the powerful AFL-CIO labor union coalition and meet with fundraisers, according to the media.

Earlier Thursday an aide of Obama indicated that the U.S. leader will be phoning congressmen from Russia to convince them to approve military action against the Syrian regime for having allegedly carried out an chemical weapons attack on August 21.

Despite support from Republican leaders in the House of Representatives, many lawmakers are still wary of a military operation, and some of the minority democrats have failed to support him.

Even the Senate, which is dominated by Obama's allies, still seems far from decided, though a committee on Wednesday gave the proposed strikes its approval.