Obama says cancelling Putin wasn't just about Snowden, also missile defense and human rights. Obama on Leno criticized Russia's treatment of gay and transgender persons. BBC diplomatic corresp. says: 'These are no longer equivalent powers'

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"These are no longer equivalent powers and they have so far not found a way to co-operate on terms that benefit both." BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus on Obama's cancellation of talks with Putin

8/7/13, "Russia "disappointed" bilateral talks with US cancelled," BBC

"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.

The decision to cancel the US-Russia summit comes the day after Mr Obama appeared on an evening chat show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, in which he condemned a newly enacted anti-gay law in Russia.

"I have no patience for countries that try to treat gays or lesbians or transgender persons in ways that intimidate them or are harmful to them," Mr Obama said.

But the White House reaffirmed Mr Obama's commitment to attending an upcoming round of G20 economic talks, which take place on 5-6 September in the Russian city of St Petersburg."...