'Talks'

So I read in the news a few days ago that Barack Hussein Obama was meeting Dmitri Anatolyevich Medvedev in Moscow for 'talks'.

I also read that the leaders of the G8 were meeting in L'Aquila in Italy, also for 'talks'.

My question is - what exactly is the point of all these 'talks'? What exactly are they talking about that can't be discussed by representatatives of these leaders?

OK, perhaps it's all about publicity. Big men coming together to talk always generates headlines. But what is the point of coming together if all we get is a dry communique which tells us something like "we have decided to co-operate even more closely than we were co-operating before"?

Even the policy initiatives that are announced are usually initiatives that officials of the various nations must have been working on behind the scenes. You surely don't think that Obama would head off to Russia and announce some major cut in defence spending without clearing it with the State Department officials first, do you?

I guess these talks are nothing more than the equivalent of opening ceremonies - highly symbolic, but with not much extra value.

What I (and many others, I'm sure) would love to see would be these leaders holding these talks on an open stage for all to see. They all like to make a big show about connecting with the common man - this would be an ideal opportunity to do that.