VIENTIANE, Laos (AP) — Philippine officials say their president, Rodrigo Duterte, has met informally with President Barack Obama in a holding room before attending a gala dinner at a regional summit.
The brief meeting Wednesday night took a little sting out of the soured relations caused by Duterte’s intemperate language in referring to Obama earlier this week. That caused Obama to cancel a formal meeting scheduled for Tuesday.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Pefecto Yasay told reporters, “I am confirming that they met.”
Yasay said: “I am happy. This shows that the relationship between the two allies is strong.”
Obama and Duterte are in the Laotian capital along with other regional leaders for the summit.
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