US ambassador to Russia downplays reports of friction between Obama and Putin at G-20

By Julian Pecquet - 06/19/12 01:27 PM ET

The U.S. ambassador to Russia took to Twitter on Tuesday to downplay reports of friction between President Obama and Russian leader Vladimir Putin at their meeting Monday on the margins of the G-20 summit in Mexico.

Michael McFaul blamed the media for over-interpreting the leaders' cool demeanor – lack of eye contact, frozen smiles, hands grasping their armchairs.

He said the formal pose was merely Putin's style and added that the two-hour face-to-face meeting with Obama — the first since Putin regained the presidency in March — enabled a substantial discussion on Syria, where Russia has opposed sanctions against the government of Bashar Assad.

The two leaders issued a joint call after their two-hour meeting calling for "moving forward on political transition to a democratic, pluralistic political system that would be implemented by the Syrians themselves in the framework of Syria's sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity.”

“Obama and Putin meeting went long yesterday because of comprehensive and detailed discussion on Syria,” McFaul tweeted. “Press read too much into 'body language' of Obama and Putin in press spray. They did same thing after Obama-Medvedev mtg in Deauville France.”

That May 2011 meeting between Obama and then-President Dmitry Medvedev took place amid heightened tensions over NATO's plans for a missile defense shield in Europe. The Associated Press ran a story at the time with a lengthy description of the two leaders' “cool demeanor” that administration went to great lengths to play down.

“But deep tensions remain and the leaders' body language Thursday seemed to show it,” the AP reported last year. “Obama's stern expression was in contrast to his relaxed and affable demeanor during earlier stops on his four-country Europe tour. Medvedev also appeared cool, and leaned away from Obama as he talked. The two men spoke of a strengthened personal relationship, but their body language did not match their words.”

At the time, Deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes described the relationship as warm and free-flowing and said the two leaders even "joke around a lot," according to the AP.

Monday's meeting between Obama and Putin was highly anticipated because of differences between the two countries over Syria. It also received attention because of Putin's decision to skip the G-8 summit hosted by Obama at Camp David, which was widely seen as a snub to the U.S. president.