US presidents, Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin, on Monday had its first formal meeting in more than two years, which served to reaffirm what had already said before the UN General Assembly and certify their differences about the role of the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria's future.
The expected meeting in the consultation room of the Security Council of the UN, lasted 95 minutes, more than expected, but it was to get to any rapprochement between the US and Russia on resolving the crisis that is bleeding from Syria more than four years ago.
According to a senior US official, Obama and Putin agreed on the need to seek a "political solution" to the conflict in Syria, but they fundamentally disagree on something crucial, as the role to be played by President Assad.
For USA, Assad has to go and it has maintained since the crisis began, while Russia defends its legitimacy.
"I think the Russians certainly understand the importance of having a political solution in Syria and pursuing a process that solution," but "we have differences in what would be the result of that process," particularly with regard to Assad, He related the source on condition of anonymity.
For his part, Putin spoke with Russian media after the meeting with Obama, which he said was "surprisingly frank and constructive".
According to Russian TV Russia Today (RT), Putin denied that Moscow has or will have troops in Syria, although the Kremlin has recently increased its military support to the Assad regime.
About the bombing positions of the Islamic State (EI) in Syria of the international coalition led by the US, Putin said no one knows if they are to be effective and did not exclude the possibility that Russia could join these attacks, but recalled that They are not currently "legal" because they are not under the umbrella of the UN.
Both Putin and Obama spoke during the morning before the UN General Assembly and there exposed very clearly their positions on Syria.
In his speech to the Assembly, Obama insisted that Assad must resign to promote a "transition" that would end the conflict, while Putin, in his speech, asked for support from the international community to "legitimate government" of Damascus.
"The United States is prepared to work with all countries, including Russia and Iran to resolve the conflict" but "after much bloodshed can not return to 'status quo' in Syria," Obama said.
Today, the government intensified its contacts with European and Arab countries agree that Assad should relinquish power to achieve peace in Syria, through a meeting of US Secretary of State, John Kerry, with the Foreign ministers of Britain, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Turkey.
A turn to the General Assembly, Putin expressed his full support for the Assad regime because, he said, its military forces and Kurdish militias are the only ones "who are actually fighting the terrorist organizations in Syria."
The Kremlin leader also wants to propose the possibility of adopting in the Security Council UN resolution that seeks "to coordinate actions of all forces that face the Islamic State and other terrorist organizations" ahead.
To date, the last formal meeting between Obama and Putin took place in mid-2013.A few months later, in early 2014, the Ukrainian crisis began with the Russian annexation of Crimea, an issue that both tried again today both in the UN and in its bilateral meeting.
In his address to the Assembly, Obama defended the sanctions against Russia after the annexation of the Crimea because, he said, US You can not remain silent "when the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a nation is blatantly violate".
For his part, Putin denounced in turn the use of "unilateral sanctions" to serve "political interests" and at the same time, "eliminate competition" economic.
During their meeting, Obama reiterated US support Putin the "sovereignty and territorial integrity" of Ukraine, as well as the commitment to "implement the agreements Minsk," the senior US official.