President Obama will meet on the sidelines of the G-20 summit with France's President Francois Hollande and China's President Xi Jinping, according to a senior administration official.
The official, who asked not to be identified because the president's schedule for the summit has yet to be released, told USA TODAY there are currently no plans for Obama to have a formal bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but expects the two presidents could have an opportunity to speak on the margins of the various meetings during the summit.
Obama had planned to visit Putin in Moscow for meetings ahead of the G-20, which will be held on Thursday and Friday in St. Petersburg, Russia, but canceled the Moscow trip last month, following a string of disputes, including Russia's decision to grant asylum to former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden and its blocking of action by the United Nations Security Council against Syria.
One objective for Obama's time at the G-20, which will focus on global economic issues, is to round up support from the international community for military action against Syria.
Obama announced on Saturday that he was seeking congressional authorization for the strike, but he would also like to gain at least moral support—if not military backing—from other countries.
Last week, Hollande announced that France would back military action in Syria.
On Monday, China urged Obama not to take unilateral action against Syria in response to last month's chemical weapons attack in the suburbs of Damascus, which killed more than 1,400.
Obama and Xi met in June for two days of wide-ranging talks in Palm Springs, Calif., which was billed as a relationship building moment for the two presidents.
二十国集团(G20)领导人第八次峰会将于9月5日至6日在俄罗斯名城圣彼得堡举行。据《今日美国》9月3日报道，美国高级官员称，美国总统奥巴马将在G20峰会期间会见法国总统弗朗西斯•奥朗德和中国国家主席习近平。
该官员还表示，奥巴马目前尚无计划与俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔•普京举行正式的双边会谈，不过预计两国领导人在峰会间隙有机会交谈。
奥巴马原定在G20峰会前在莫斯科与普京会面，但奥巴马上月取消了该行程。此前，俄罗斯为前美国国家安全局泄密者爱德华•斯诺登提供避难。最近在叙利亚议题上，俄罗斯也强烈反对美国对叙利亚采取军事行动。
此次G20峰会将关注全球经济危机议题。但奥巴马的G20峰会还有一个目标，即寻求国际社会对其军事打击叙利亚更广泛的支持。虽然奥巴马8月31日已寻求国会授权攻打叙利亚，但他还将争取其他国家至少在道义上支持美国。
上周，奥朗德宣布法国支持对叙利亚采取军事行动，而英国议会则否决了出兵叙利亚的议案，英首相卡梅伦表示英国将不参与美国的军事行动。
今年6月，奥巴马和习近平在加利福利亚庄园举行了为期两天的会晤，就广泛的议题进行了会谈，被视为建设中美新型大国关系的里程碑事件。中国已于9月2日呼吁奥巴马不要采取单边军事行动应对叙利亚化武事件。