Obama Cancels Meeting With Russia President Putin Amid Snowden Asylum Situation

Obama cancels his meeting with Putin in Moscow amid tensions over NSA leaker Snowden.

U.S. President Barack Obama had planned to meet with Russia's President Vladimir Putin next month in Moscow, although Obama has now cancelled the diplomatic trip.

Obama has cancelled the meeting with Putin in Moscow amid tensions over Edward Snowden. The cancellation comes in the wake of Russia's decision to grant temporary asylum to National Security Agency leaker, Snowden. Obama cancelling the meeting reflects the U.S.'s surmounting frustration and tension with Russia.

According to the White House, Obama still plans on being in attendance for the Group of 20 economic summit in St. Petersburg, Russia. However, the President has no plans to meet with Putin one-on-one while in Russia, instead Obama has added a trip to Sweden on his travel itinerary for September.

White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes revealed that Russia's decision last week to grant Snowden temporary asylum and openly defy the U.S. has only acted to worsen the already souring relationship between the two countries. The Obama administration has been at odds with Russia regarding key issues, including missile defense and human rights.

"We'll still work with Russia on issues where we can find common ground, but it was the unanimous view of the president and his national security team that a summit did not make sense in the current environment," Rhodes said.

The U.S. was expected to notify the Russians Wednesday morning about Obama's decision to cancel the Moscow summit, though the two presidents were not expected to speak directly.