Snowden firewalls US-Russia talks

In a rare snub, US President Barack Obama on Thursday (August 8) cancelled his plans to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin after intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden was granted temporary asylum by Moscow. "Following a careful review begun in July, we have reached the conclusion that there is not enough recent progress in our bilateral agenda with Russia to hold a US-Russia Summit in early September," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said in a statement today, ending weeks of speculation on this issue.