More from Reuters on the brief meeting today in Beijing between Obama and Putin:
U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a "brief encounter" on the sidelines of APEC summit events on Monday night but did not have time to discuss the main issues between their two countries, a senior U.S. official said.
The informal conversation between the two leaders, who have been deeply at odds over Russia's role in the Ukraine conflict and its backing for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, took place during events to welcome participants to the Chinese-hosted summit.
"They only had a brief encounter where they didn't have time to cover issues," the senior official said. "We'll let you know if they interact/cover issues tomorrow."
The White House has said that there are no plans for formal face-to-face talks between Obama and Putin at the Asia-Pacific conference or at the G20 summit later this week in Brisbane.
From AFP:
An AFP journalist saw 28 trucks, six tanks and 14 howitzer artillery systems and two armoured personnel carriers driving through rebel territory around Donetsk on Monday.
The West has repeatedly expressed concern at Ukrainian claims that Russian military reinforcements are being sent in while Moscow denies that it is involved in the fighting in the east.
However, it openly gives the rebels political and humanitarian backing and it is not clear how the insurgents could otherwise have access to so much sophisticated and well-maintained weaponry.
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
A Russian lawmaker who suspects Russian paratroopers were killed in Ukraine says prosecutors have refused to provide information about where the soldiers died, citing laws on “state secrets.”
Lev Shlosberg, a Pskov newspaper publisher and local lawmaker, wrote in a November 10 blog post that Russian military prosecutors declined to provide details in response to his petition listing 12 servicemen who died away from their posts between July and September.
Shlosberg, who published a scan of the purported October 28 response, had asked where the soldiers died and whether their deployment violated the constitution.
Shlosberg has gathered evidence suggesting Russian soldiers have died in eastern Ukraine. Moscow denies sending troops to support pro-Russian separatists in the conflict.
Shlosberg was badly beaten by unidentified assailants after his newspaper published an investigation into the funerals of two paratroopers in August.