Kremlin ‘disappointed’ after US bilateral talks are cancelled

The Kremlin expressed disappointment on the US government's decision to cancel bilateral talks scheduled in September, after Russia granted asylum to intelligence leaker Edward Snowden.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's foreign affairs adviser said the move showed the US could not develop ties with Russia on an "equal basis".

A White House aide said Mr Snowden's asylum had deepened the pre-existing tension between the two counties. But Obama still plans to attend the G20 economic talks in St Petersburg.

Snowden, a former intelligence contractor, has admitted leaking information about US surveillance programmes to the media.

The decision to cancel the talks, announced during a trip by the US president to Los Angeles, comes the morning after Mr Obama said he was "disappointed" with Russia's decision to offer Mr Snowden asylum for a year.

"We have reached the conclusion that there is not enough recent progress in our bilateral agenda with Russia to hold a US-Russia Summit," the White House said in a statement.

In addition to Russia's "disappointing decision" to grant Mr Snowden temporary asylum, the White House cited a lack of progress on issues ranging from missile defence to human rights.

"We believe it would be more constructive to postpone the summit until we have more results from our shared agenda," the White House said.