Obama and his Russian counterpart Putin met Monday as talks between their governments on ending violence in Syria ended without an agreement. Meanwhile, Putin told reporters that a deal with the US to "ease tensions in Syria" may come "within a few days," according to Russia's state news agency TASS. "Against all odds we have a certain rapprochement and understanding of what we might do to ease tensions in Syria and achieve mutually acceptable solutions," TASS quoted Putin as saying.
As for further details on the agreement, Putin said, "It is early now to speak of any parameters of our agreements, but I hope very much that the agreements will be reached, and I have the grounds to believe that this may happen within a few days," according to TASS. The two leaders conversed on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit here for ninety minutes, a senior US official said, and worked to clarify gaps in negotiations over on the Syrian crisis. The pair also discussed Ukraine and Russia's cyber intrusions, the official said.
The exchange came after talks between Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov failed to result in a Syria ceasefire agreement. They had been working to negotiate a plan that would have boosted military cooperation between the two nations in an effort to better target terrorists and prevent civilian deaths.
Negotiators failed to work through differences, and the talks have ended for now. Following Obama's meeting with Putin, an official said the leaders indicated a desire for Kerry and Lavrov to reconvene deliberations in the coming days. "It was constructive," a US official said after the meeting, noting that all differences were not resolved. The official spoke anonymously to discuss a private conversation. "It's clear now what our respective positions are," the official said. "And we'll see in coming days whether on Syria we can reach a near-term agreement. If we cannot get the type of agreement we want, we will walk away from that effort."
Differences between the two sides are technical, the official indicated, suggesting the divide was at a level that Obama and Putin wouldn't negotiate themselves. "President Obama and President Putin were not going to get down into the weeds of the language of an agreement and the implementation associated with the agreement," the official said. Photos of the session distributed by the Kremlin show the two leaders and aides, including Kerry and US National Security Adviser Susan Rice, seated around a table. The presidents appeared in congenial moods, with one photo showing Putin smiling broadly. Both Russian and US officials said the meeting - which was held in a conference room at the G20 summit site here -- lasted longer than planned, and that leaders spent the bulk of their meeting discussing Syria.
