Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama share cold handshake

BARACK Obama and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin just met in person, probably for the last time. It was horrendously awkward.

US President Barack Obama and Russia's President Vladimir Putin talk before an economic leaders meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit at the Lima Convention Centre. Picture: AFP Photo/Brendan Smialowski

BARACK Obama and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have been caught in an awkward greeting during a global summit.

The world leaders barely looked at each other as they shook hands after talking about the stalling peace conflict in Syria, minutes before sitting down to economic discussions in Peru, The Sun reported.

In a statement released to RT, the Russian President’s press secretary Dmity Peskov said: “The presidents expressed disappointment that no progress has been achieved on Ukraine.

“At the same time, it was underlined that the two remaining months (of Obama’s term) should be used for finding a resolution of the Syrian conflict.

“To this end, it was agreed that (Russia’s foreign minister) Sergey Lavrov and (US Secretary of State) John Kerry should continue communicating.”

But while the world leaders appeared to agree on the need for more to be done, neither appeared to be delighted to see each other.

Their conversation ended in a brief handshake.

Eye contact minimal. Picture: AFP Photo/Brendan Smialowski

Hand contact minimal. Picture: AFP Photo/Brendan Smialowski

The no-look pass. Picture: Kym Smith

The White House did not provide details about the content of Obama’s discussion with Putin.

The sideline during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit was not scheduled.

The apparently frosty conversation between Putin and outgoing US President Barack Obama comes after predictions that the Russian leader is waiting to turn to Donald Trump when he takes control of the Oval Office.

Russia UK ambassador Alexander Yakovenko acknowledged this weekend that attempts to negotiate with current president Barack Obama over the air strikes had failed.

In an article for the Sunday Mirror, Mr Yakovenko wrote: “We have been trying to coordinate with this US Administration. We’ll continue doing so with the next one.”

The first conversation between Trump and Putin after the billionaire reality TV star was announced as the next US President also involved vows to tackle IS.

They also agreed that Russian-US relations were “extremely unsatisfactory”.

Trump has also signalled his regard for Putin, saying he “has been a leader far more than our president”.

This article originally appeared in The Sun and was re-published with permission