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Days After Slur, Obama and Rodrigo Duterte of Philippines Meet Briefly

President Obama and President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, right, on the podium before the Association of Southeast Asian Nations dinner on Wednesday in Vientiane, Laos.Credit...Ritchie B. Tongo/European Pressphoto Agency

VIENTIANE, Laos — It was brief and it was only pleasantries, but President Obama and President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines spoke to each other on Wednesday, just two days after Mr. Duterte’s profane outburst prompted Mr. Obama to cancel their first meeting.

The two men spoke while they were waiting with other world leaders to enter a gala dinner at a summit meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations here, according to a White House official. The official did not say what the two men discussed, except to suggest that it was not substantive.

For reporters covering the dinner, the prospect of a meeting or handshake between Mr. Obama and Mr. Duterte was the story of the evening. Publicly, at least, it fizzled: At a photo session with the leaders, Mr. Obama stood several spots to the left of Mr. Duterte. At dinner, they were seated far enough from each other to make a chance encounter unlikely.

Mr. Duterte chatted with Prime Minister Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia during the photo session and later over dinner, where he lifted his wineglass to toast Mr. Medvedev. Mr. Obama, meanwhile, appeared to be having a sober exchange with Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei.

Mr. Obama canceled a formal meeting with Mr. Duterte after the Philippine leader called him a “son of a whore” and threatened to repeat it in person, if he raised the issue of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines. Mr. Duterte later said he regretted the comments, which he described as an overreaction to news media reports he had read about Mr. Obama’s plans to press him on his tactics for combating drug trafficking.

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