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Le Bourget, France • President Barack Obama urged Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday to decrease tensions with Turkey, as the U.S. and Russian leaders met briefly on the sidelines of global climate talks outside Paris.
During the 30-minute sit-down, Obama expressed regret over Turkey's shoot-down of a Russian plane that Turkey said had entered its airspace from Syria, said Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. He said the two leaders discussed Syria in detail, and they both spoke in favor of moving toward the launch of a political settlement to Syria's civil war.
Putin said Monday that he and Obama have a shared understanding on how to move toward a political settlement in Syria, but added that incidents like the recent downing of a Russian warplane by a Turkish fighter jet stymie broader cooperation against extremism.
The leaders had a half-hour meeting on the sidelines of a climate summit near Paris, and the Russian president told reporters they discussed efforts to compile a list of extremist groups and another one of members of legitimate political opposition.
Putin said, "We have an understanding how we should proceed if we talk about a political settlement. We need to work on a new [Syrian] constitution, new elections and the control over their outcome."
The White House said that Obama told Putin that Syrian President Bashar Assad must leave power as part of that transition, a long-held U.S. position that remains at odds with Russia's support for Assad.
Obama also called on Russia to focus its airstrikes in Syria on Islamic State militants, not rebels fighting Assad, the White House said.
The two leaders also discussed implementing a ceasefire in Ukraine.