Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin Discuss Syrian Crisis Face-to-Face

President Barack Obama and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Turkey on Sunday to discuss Syria in the wake of a deadly attack on Paris.

According to a White House official, the leaders talked for about 35 minutes and focused on Syrian conflict resolution, spurred by the terrorist attack in Paris on Friday as well as other recent events that point to increased global activity by ISIS. The official says both agreed on the need for U.N.-mediated peace talks between the Assad regime and his opponents, a ceasefire, and “a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition.”

Though relations between Putin and Obama have been strained since Russia began an air campaign in Syria in September, Obama acknowledged the importance of Russia’s work combatting ISIS in that country. He also stressed his support for the Minsk agreements on the conflicts in Ukraine, and offered condolences for Russians who died in the plane crash in Egypt last month.