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Putin Meets With Cameron, Hollande At G20


Russian President Vladimir Putin has held meetings with British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Australia.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the crisis in Ukraine was "the only" subject of his meeting with Cameron.

Putin has come under pressure from Western leaders in Brisbane for the summit to do more to end the violence between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine.

Putin also met with Hollande, calling on him to "minimize the risks and the negative consequences" of their relations.

Moscow and Paris are locked in a dispute over France's delivery of the first of two Mistral helicopter carriers to Russia.

Western allies wanted France to scrap the $1.58 billion deal with Russia.

France's refusal to hand over the warship has angered Moscow.

Reports this week suggested the vessel was now Russian-flagged, although still in a French port.

Putin also reportedly had a blunt meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Brisbane.

"I guess I'll shake your hand, but I have only one thing to say to you: You need to get out of Ukraine," AP quoted Harper's spokesman, Jason MacDonald, as saying of the brief exchange.

Reuters has quoted a Russian official traveling with Putin as suggesting that the Russian president might cut short his stay in Australia as a result of the reception he has been given.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, and Interfax

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