Putin cancels visit to Paris in heated Syria rowRussian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday cancelled a visit to France in a furious row over Moscow’s role in the Syrian conflict. Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with reporters during a visit for a summit of former Soviet republics at Kyrgyzstan’s international Manas airport outside Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, September 17, 2016. The French president had admitted he was agonising over whether to meet Putin, but the Kremlin on Tuesday called off the visit. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin was “ready to visit when it is comfortable for President Hollande”, adding that Moscow would “wait for when that comfortable time comes”. Thomas Gomart, head of the French International Relations Institute (IFRI), said the optics of a Putin visit at this time would be “explosive”.

Source: Manila Bulletin October 11, 2016 17:48 UTC