According to a report by Reuters, The Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors's (G20) upcoming economic meeting may be derailed over a possible showdown between US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the crisis in Syria. The crisis in Syria at the moment is not on the G20's agenda.
G20 is a group composing central bank governors and finance ministers who represent 20 major economies in the world. 19 of them countries like US and Russia, and the European Union, would be having a meeting, of which Putin is hosting, in a tsarist palace just outside of St. Petersburg.
Although discussions in the G20 summit would be centered on recent economic issues such as the turmoil in emerging markets and the Federal Reserve tapering its stimulus program, the summit might see a show of aggressive stances from both Putin and Obama on possible military intervation in Syria.
Obama has been building his argument that a military intervention was necessary. The US president has been seeking approval from its Congress to act upon the chemical attack happened last August 21.
Putin, on the other hand, dismissed the need for an intervention. Disputing his earlier support for military action, he appeared to looking for a consensus to make a diplomatic stand in light of the harrowing chemical incident and the escalated tensions in Syria. In Moscow, he said, "Our opponents' arguments are very weak. To be honest, they are non-existent."
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