Putin leaves G-20 summit early to get some sleep

Brisbane

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin left the Group of 20 summit in Australia early on Sunday so that he could sleep on the long flight home, as fellow leaders berated Russia over the conflict in Ukraine and warned of possible further sanctions.

Mr Putin, who was told by European leaders to stop arming rebels, said before jetting off from Brisbane that he needed 4-5 hours of sleep so that he could get to work early on Monday morning.

"We have to fly from here to Vladivostok nine hours and then from Vladivostok to Moscow, another nine hours," the Russian leader told reporters in Brisbane. "There are no other considerations."

The crisis in Ukraine overshadowed the G-20 summit, and European foreign ministers meeting on Monday in Brussels will discuss expanding the list of individuals targeted by sanctions, according to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who spoke with Mr Putin for almost four hours during a late night meeting. Russia, which occupied and annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March, has repeatedly denied that it's sending its armed forces into Ukraine or aiding the separatists.

US President Barack Obama, who met with European leaders on the sidelines of the summit to discuss the crisis, said Russia had the "opportunity to take a different path" on Ukraine or face continued isolation.

Mr Obama described his interactions with Mr Putin during the past week as "business-like and blunt". He said the US and its allies stood "very firm on the need to uphold core international principles, and one of those principles is you don't invade other countries".

Mr Obama said he wasn't ready to commit to increased sanctions on the country, saying the measures already in place "are biting plenty good". "This is going to be a test of the stamina and a test of the political will of the United States and the countries of the European Union," UK Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters. "Russia needs to know that there's a real unity of purpose between America and the European Union in making sure that we don't have a permanent frozen conflict on the continent of Europe."

Mr Putin told reporters he thought he and his fellow leaders now better understood each other on Ukraine after one-on-one talks on the issue. The crisis is the worst standoff between Russia and its former Cold War foes since the Iron Curtain fell 25 years ago.

Mr Putin received a blunt message when he approached Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper for a handshake during the summit. "I guess I'll shake your hand but I have only one thing to say to you: You need to get out of Ukraine," Mr Harper told Mr Putin, the PM's spokesman Jason MacDonald said in an e-mail. Mr Putin told Mr Harper that would be impossible because Russian troops aren't there, said the president's spokesman Dmitry Peskov. BLOOMBERG