Beyond the photo ops and press statements, Obama was pushing President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the kind of climate deals that eluded him at the G8 summit in Italy in the summer – and have eluded international negotiators for the last decade. China and India have played central roles in blocking past agreements, alongside the US, in a seemingly intractable dispute between fast-developing economies and the older, wealthier polluters.

And this specifically on speculation about returning for a seal-the-deal appearance at the end:

By leaving early, Obama has drawn some European criticism since he will not be present for the later-stage arm-twisting that could be decisive in reaching an international agreement. Yet that scheduling decision also avoids any potential embarrassment in case Copenhagen ends up with no agreement whatsoever – a possible repeat of the Olympics fiasco. Speculation has already surfaced that the President might jet back to Copenhagen if a deal is within reach a week later. “Let’s hope there’s good karma in Copenhagen this time,” says one White House official.

1) will any other heads of state be there that early? Or will the Big O just give a speech to all the delegates and sign some autographs?

2) Is there any chance he’d come back at the end? This announcement seems to make an appearance at the end to ‘seal the deal’ virtually impossible (grrr)