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Wrapping up his last foreign trip, Obama tries to make headway on Syria

The Washington Post: LIMA, Peru — President Obama spent the last day of his final foreign trip attempting to make headway on one of the most painful aspects of his foreign policy portfolio: the ongoing civil war in Syria.

Just before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit opened its first formal session Sunday, Obama spoke briefly with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was standing by his seat at a massive circular table around which all the participants were arrayed.

The four-minute discussion, which a White House official described as “brief and informal,” represented the first time the leaders had spoken in person since members of the Group of 20 convened in China in September.

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