U.S. President Barack Obama and his Philippines counterpart Rodrigo Duterte will not meet in Laos on the sidelines of the 28th and 29th ASEAN Summits and East Asia Summit, the U.S. Embassy in Vientiane confirmed on Tuesday. [Special coverage]
According to media report, plans for a bilateral meeting were shelved after comments by the firebrand Philippine president in response to reporters' questions on the prospects for a proposed bilateral meeting prior to his departure for Vientiane.
"I always want to make sure that if I'm having a meeting that it's actually productive and we're getting something done," Obama was quoted as telling reporters before his departure from China to Laos for the East Asia Summit.
The proposed meeting, now cancelled, would have been the first since Duterte came into office on June 30.
Obama arrived in the Lao capital on Monday evening after participating in the G20 Summit in China's eastern city of Hangzhou.
