Obama says Putin presiding over economic contraction - CNN interview

U.S. President Barack Obama (L) talks with Russia's President Vladimir Putin during arrivals for the G20 summit at the Konstantin Palace in St. Petersburg, September 5, 2013. REUTERS//Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Pool

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. president Barack Obama has rejected the charge that he has been outmanoeuvred by Russian president Vladimir Putin, saying in a TV interview due for broadcast later on Sunday that Putin was presiding over "a huge economic contraction" due to the Ukraine crisis.

Obama, in an interview with Candy Crowley on CNN's "State of the Union" programme rejected the notion that Putin "is the chess master and outmanoeuvring the West and outmanoeuvring Mr. Obama and this and that and the other."