U.S. President Barack Obama has canceled a Moscow summit with President Vladimir Putin planned for next month in retaliation for Russia’s decision to grant asylum to fugitive U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden. The Russian government expressed disappointment at the decision, but beyond Snowden, however, a long list of grievances separate the two governments, topped by Russia’s support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s civil war. “Following a careful review begun in July, we have reached the conclusion that there is not enough recent progress in our bilateral agenda with Russia to hold a U.S.-Russia summit in early September,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement. Perhaps Obama has realised that rather than go ahead with the Moscow visit and outline his concerns to Putin face-to-face, expressing U.S. displeasure publicly by canceling the summit altogether may actually prove more effective.