The following is from editorial in the Los Angeles Times:
If it's a refusal to engage with Russia, that would be bad. But more likely, it's political Kabuki theater.
If President Obama's decision to cancel a summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin signaled a refusal to engage with Russia on matters of mutual interest, we'd be concerned. Although Russia lacks the superpower status of the now-defunct Soviet Union, it retains a veto on the U.N. Security Council and could still play a constructive role in resolving the civil war in Syria. The two countries also have unresolved bilateral issues, including further reductions in nuclear stockpiles and Russian objections to the deployment of a NATO anti-missile system in Poland and Romania.
But it appears that the president's refusal to hold talks with Putin in Moscow next month doesn't in fact constitute a rupture in conversations between the two countries, which will continue at other levels. It's better viewed as a clear but calibrated expression of displeasure over the Russian government's granting of asylum to Edward Snowden and its growing hostility to political dissent, civil rights and the activities on Russian soil of international human-rights groups. Russia also oppresses its gay and lesbian citizens. Last week, the country's sports minister said it would enforce a new law against "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations," including gay pride demonstrations, during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Cynics will say that Obama's decision to cancel the summit won't change any minds in Moscow. Perhaps not, but the president is entitled to register his objections to Russian conduct by actions as well as words. And this action speaks louder than anything Obama might have said to Putin at a summit.