Snowden Undiscussed at Putin-Obama Meeting

Syrian matters took precedence

Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama did not discuss Edward Snowden during their talks on Friday, despite the United States' pending extradition request for the former spy agency contractor.

Both Putin and Obama said Snowden, who is living under temporary asylum in Russia, did not come up during the two leaders' sit-down meeting that lasted nearly half an hour at a Group of 20 summit in St. Petersburg and was dominated by talk on the Syrian crisis.

"Mr. Snowden did not come up beyond me saying that - re-emphasizing that where we have common interests, I think it's important for the two of us to work together," Obama said in a news conference following the G20's conclusion.