ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland — The United States and leaders of other major industrialized nations on Tuesday papered over differences on Syria and the global economy in statements that summarized their two-day annual summit meeting at a secluded lakeside resort here.
On the issue that dominated the private talks of the so-called Group of 8, the worsening regional war in Syria, the leaders averted a clash with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia by avoiding mention in their declaration of the most contentious matters that divide him and them. Those include the fate of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, Russia’s ally, in any peace settlement with the rebels.
And despite persistent differences between the Obama administration and the Europeans over Europe’s insistence on continued budget cutting instead of stimulus measures in the face of Continent-wide recession, the parties’ final communiqué suggested agreement on economic policies in language that either side could embrace.
“Promoting growth and jobs is our top priority,” it said in a line that belied divisions between the Americans and European leaders over whether austerity or stimulus best achieves the goal.
The issue will remain alive, however, as President Barack Obama went to Berlin on Tuesday evening for a state visit with Chancellor Angela Merkel, who as the head of Europe’s major economy is most influential in determining the course of the 27-nation European Union. Ms. Merkel, who has lately eased just slightly Germany’s demands on other indebted neighbors, was among the attendees at the Group of 8 meeting, along with the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Japan and Russia.
Concluding their meeting, the leaders agreed to force more openness over who owns companies and to deepen information-sharing between tax authorities. These include measures to combat the ruses used by multinational companies to limit their tax liabilities. While the agreement marks an advance in an increasingly contentious issue, it disappointed some campaigners for financial transparency by its lack of details.
But the high politics of the two-day meeting was dominated by tension over the two-year Syrian conflict, which has so far killed at least 93,000 people, including women and children.
The leaders endorsed the idea of holding peace talks in Geneva “as soon as possible,” something that Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, the host of the summit meeting, said had been “slipping away” before the G-8 discussions. Mr. Cameron said that the summit declaration signaled to Mr. Assad’s supporters in the military and security services that they had a future without him.
Still, no time frame was mentioned for the Geneva talks, and they are now likely to be delayed until late August or September, according to one Western official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. That has fueled some fears that Mr. Putin, who is one of Mr. Assad’s most prominent supporters, may be playing for time — calculating that, by the end of the summer, an already fragmented opposition in Syria will be further weakened by military reverses.
The G-8 declaration gave a little more detail about how a transition to a new government in Syria would work. But its cautionary language and failure to call for Mr. Assad’s departure — as Mr. Obama and some European leaders demand — underscored the extent to which Mr. Putin fought for the Syrian autocrat despite being heavily outnumbered in discussions on Monday with the seven other heads of state.
Mr. Obama’s and Mr. Putin’s public remarks Monday — delivered as the two men sat side by side, each repeatedly clenching his jaw and looking at the carpet — suggested that the only prospect for a breakthrough on Syria was through talks. “We agreed to push the parties to the negotiations table,” Mr. Putin said.
Though Russia is Syria’s principal arms supplier, Mr. Putin used the dinner deliberations on Monday to warn against U.S. plans to begin sending some light arms and ammunition to Syrian rebels. Playing on the others’ fears that the rebels include some extremists allied with Al Qaeda, Mr. Putin repeated his contention that the opposition could not form an alternative government, according to a Western diplomat who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.
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