Obama meets with Putin in Paris

The Kremlin says both Obama and Putin expressed urgency for a political resolution in Syria during their 30-minute meeting.

Obama plans to hold a meeting Tuesday morning with Erdogan where he will again encourage de-escalation between Russian Federation and Turkey, Rhodes said.

Asked about strikes since Friday on ethnic Turkmen areas near the Syrian-Turkish border, foreign ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said: “There can be no possible ambiguity on the objectives being pursued, which must only target the destruction of Daesh (Islamic State)”.

“President Obama reiterated his belief that it will be necessary for Bashar al-Assad to leave power as a part of the transition and stressed the imperative of focusing military efforts against ISIL, as our worldwide coalition is doing, rather than targeting moderate opposition”, the White House official said, using another acronym for IS.

Neither the White House nor Kremlin statement indicated whether there was any progress toward resolving divisions over Mr. Assad or the rival bombing campaigns under way.

Obama and Putin met briefly on the sidelines of global climate talks outside Paris.

Obama and Putin also discussed the need for cooperation between the United States, Russia, Turkey and other countries to resolve the Syria crisis, Rhodes said.