APEC is a 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum that met this week to move towards a new free trade zone and agree as a climate deal. America and Russia are part of APEC. President Barack Obama and President Vladimir Putin met three times while there, though relations between their countries continue to deteriorate. The White House said they tackled the tough issues of Russia's provocations in Ukraine and support for Syria's embattled government. They also discussed the fast-approaching deadline in nuclear talks with Iran, in which the US and Russia find themselves on the same negotiating team. Unlike some of their past meetings, Obama and Putin kept their deep-seated policy disagreements behind the scenes, but their public encounters suggested relationships between two of the most powerful leaders in the world remains tense.