On Thursday the White House announced that President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to meet face-to-face in New York next week during the United Nations confab.
Putin is already scheduled to address a general session of the UN to outline Russian plans both for the unrest in Ukraine and more specifically for their interests in the ongoing civil war in Syria.
The stated aim for Obama in the meeting is to gain a better understanding of what Russia intends to accomplish with its military build-up in the Middle East.
Since their last in-person summit more than two years ago, tensions between Russia and the U.S. have intensified as American military advisers have been sent to the Ukraine to assist in forestalling further Russian advances and amid an increasing role by Russia on behalf of the Assad regime in Syria.
