Heads together, Obama and Putin agree on steps for Syria

US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed Sunday on the need for UN-sponsored peace talks and a ceasefire to resolve years of war in Syria, a White House official said.

“President Obama and President Putin agreed on the need for a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition, which would be proceeded by UN-mediated negotiations between the Syrian opposition and regime as well as a ceasefire,” the official told reporters after the leaders met on the sidelines of a G20 summit taking place in the Turkish resort of Antalya.

The two “held a constructive discussion” that lasted about 35 minutes, the official added.

The White House said the two leaders also discussed the conflict in Ukraine and that Obama expressed condolences for the victims in the Russian plane crash last month in the Sinai Peninsula.

Obama and Putin both leaned in close to each other as they talked, with Obama gesturing expressively with his hands.

The huddle comes as the US, Russia and other countries pursue a new diplomatic plan to try to end Syria’s civil war, and was the first meeting of the two world leaders since Russia recently launched its own air campaign in Syria.

World leaders joined a heavily guarded summit in Turkey on Sunday to forge a united front against jihadist violence after the Paris attacks, but faced stark divisions over conflict-riven Syria.

The leaders will probably struggle to find common ground over the Syria crisis, with host Turkey deeply opposed to Russia’s air strikes and finding only a lukewarm reaction so far to its proposal for a safe zone free of Islamic State jihadists to be created inside Syria as a haven for refugees.

Top diplomats gathered in Vienna on Saturday agreed on a fixed calendar for Syria that would see a transition government in six months and elections in 18 months, but failed to agree on the future of embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.