Kuczynski: APEC Leaders Agreed to Study Formation of Free Trade Area

And Asian leaders gathered in Lima for an Asia-Pacific economic summit are trying to game out what Trump’s presidency will mean for trade with the world’s largest economy.

Mr Obama suggested once he was out of office he would uphold the tradition of ex-presidents stepping aside quietly to allow their successors space to govern.

However, Obama said he would speak out if core U.S. “values and ideals” were threatened by the Trump Presidency.

It was the first time they had met since the U.S. presidential election and the shock victory of Donald Trump, who has pursued a far warmer relationship with Putin than Obama did.

“It is true that we are exploring a range of options in terms of how we organize the mission that now exists”, Obama told reporters.

The two leaders were seen chatting at the start of the opening session of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima.

Despite the short duration of the discussion, Obama and Putin delved into topics that included their disagreements over Ukraine and Russia’s support for the Syrian government in an ongoing civil war, where the rebel-held enclave of eastern Aleppo has been under daily aerial assault for almost a week.

Obama explained that since Trump won the election on November 8, his goal has been to be respectful to his successor and give the President-elect an opportunity to set up his team and put forward his policies.

Obama said that the “greatest challenge” in the coming years will be to make sure that the benefits of the global economy are shared by more people and the negatives are addressed by all nations. The conversation, which was likely to be the leaders’ last face-to-face interaction, lasted just four minutes.

Though Obama declined to explicitly offer Trump advice, the president said he’d been served well by selling his assets and investing them in Treasury bills.

China’s president promised delegates at the conference that his country would continue to push for free trade deals in the region, saying countries needed to come closer together instead of being pulled further apart.

Obama reiterated that he believed the responsibilities of the presidency would cause Trump to move away from some of the rhetoric of his campaign.

Moscow, which began a military intervention in support of President Bashar al-Assad’s government past year, says it is not involved in the current assault on Aleppo, instead concentrating its firepower on a neighboring province.

In a news conference, US President Barrack Obama said he received information about the need for less aspiring trade deals.

Obama’s trip to Peru was the last stop on an worldwide farewell tour that included visits to Greece and Germany and was often overshadowed by questions about Trump’s election. “That’s what’s made the modern world”, Obama said, admitting that Washington had not always fulfilled its own ideals, but remained vital to global security.

President-elect Donald Trump is holding a series of meetings all weekend with potential candidates at his New Jersey golf course as he continues to mull over dozens of positions in his upcoming administration.

The White House says Obama called for Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov to keep working in initiatives with other countries to lower violence in Syria and alleviate suffering.

The PIF Director’s speech to APEC leaders reiterated the threat climate change poses to Pacific Islands; the sustainable development, management and conservation of its oceans and resources; and to consider including the Pacific Islands in a future connection network between Asia and the Americas under APEC’s Connectivity Blueprint.