Islamic State focus for Tony Abbott’s meeting with Barack Obama

TONY Abbott will thrash out the next step on the war against Islamic State extremists and push his growth agenda when he meets Barack Obama.

TONY Abbott will thrash out the next step on the war against Islamic State extremists and push his growth agenda for the G20 when he meets US President Barack Obama in Beijing today.

The Prime Minister, who ­arrived in Beijing last night for the APEC summit, is also set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in the next few days in China ahead of the two leaders travelling to Australia for the Brisbane G20 meeting next weekend.

While the meeting with Mr Obama will be aimed at fine-­tuning the G20 agenda — including economic reforms to boost world growth 2 per cent and promote infrastructure investment — Mr Abbott is seeking the meeting with the Russian leader to ­demand co-operation on the MH17 investigation.

Both Russia and Australia are understood to agree it would be “beneficial’’ to meet during APEC.

Mr Abbott famously declared he would “shirt-front’’ Mr Putin at the G20 meeting over the downing of MH17, but a meeting in Beijing would ensure the crucial economic summit in Brisbane is not derailed by the issue.

Trade Minister Andrew Robb said that Mr Abbott needed to have a “blunt” conversation with Mr Putin because 28 Australians and eight residents of Australia were murdered when MH17 was downed over Ukraine.

“The Prime Minister is very much within his rights, but also has a responsibility, as he sees it, to represent the Australian people and ensure those who caused these murders are brought to justice,’’ Mr Robb said.

At the APEC meeting, the leaders will be asked to approve the start of talks to create a regional free-trade area in the Asia-Pacific. Last year, Indonesia led APEC to focus on supporting the multilateral trading system and promoting free trade, and China has taken these themes forward this year. The leaders are expected to be asked to sign a Beijing accord to boost co-operation on economic reform and growth.

Mr Robb also played down the prospect of Australia’s reluctance to join the $50 billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which China has proposed and 20 countries have signed up to support. The Chinese had told Australia to take its time, he said.