United States President Barack Obama called off an upcoming meeting with his Philippine counterpart Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday after the latter insulted him, reported the Associated Press. National Security Council spokesperson Ned Price confirmed that the meeting between the two leaders at Laos has been cancelled over Duterte’s derogatory remark.

In a televised news conference in Davao City on Monday, Duterte warned Obama not to challenge him over the alleged “extrajudicial killings” of drug dealers in Philippines and called him a "son of a bitch." He said, "I am no American puppet. I am the president of a sovereign country and I am not answerable to anyone except the Filipino people." According to CNN, Duterte also blamed the United States for the crisis in the southern Philippines island of Mindanao. Later, however, he expressed regret for for what came across as a "personal attack" on Obama, BBC reported.

In response, Obama had said, "Clearly, he's a colourful guy. I've instructed my team to talk to their Philippine counterparts to find out is this a time where we can have some constructive, productive conversations."

If held, this would have been the first meeting between the two presidents. According to reports, Obama had planned to bring up the issue of drug menace with Duterte and how his country has handled it. The Philippines president has been under the scanner ever since over 2,000 suspected drug dealers and users were killed. Several human rights groups have criticised him for his actions.

This is not the first time that Duterte has used such language when referring to world leaders. He had used similar terms when speaking about Pope Francis, and an Australian missionary who was gangraped and killed. He later apologised to the pope.

Obama will now meet South Korea President Park Geun-hye. According to Reuters, the US president is expected to discuss North Korea's latest missile tests with the country.