Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has halted advance preparations for a Washington visit.
A statement from Brazil's presidential palace said it canceled a trip by an advance team of planners, security personnel and protocol officers to start preparing an October 23 state visit. No reason was given for the cancellation.
But the action comes after Brazil demanded explanations from Washington for reports the U.S. National Security Agency spied on President Rousseff's communications.
The White House said President Barack Obama might meet with Rousseff on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Russia to discuss the issue. During the first summit session, Mr. Obama and President Rousseff sat next to each other and the two leaders spoke.
White House advisor Ben Rhodes said Washington will continue to work to resolve the dispute through "diplomatic and intelligence channels.''
"We understand how important this is to the Brazilians. We understand their strength of feeling on the issue,'' he said. "What we're focused on is making sure the Brazilians understand exactly what the nature of our intelligence effort is.''
A statement from Brazil's presidential palace said it canceled a trip by an advance team of planners, security personnel and protocol officers to start preparing an October 23 state visit. No reason was given for the cancellation.
But the action comes after Brazil demanded explanations from Washington for reports the U.S. National Security Agency spied on President Rousseff's communications.
The White House said President Barack Obama might meet with Rousseff on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Russia to discuss the issue. During the first summit session, Mr. Obama and President Rousseff sat next to each other and the two leaders spoke.
White House advisor Ben Rhodes said Washington will continue to work to resolve the dispute through "diplomatic and intelligence channels.''
"We understand how important this is to the Brazilians. We understand their strength of feeling on the issue,'' he said. "What we're focused on is making sure the Brazilians understand exactly what the nature of our intelligence effort is.''