U.S. President Barack Obama met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the climate summit in Paris and discussed the Syria crisis and the situation in Ukraine, as a White House official stated according to Reuters.
The official said that Obama stressed the importance of targeting Islamic State militants in Syria and not focusing military attacks against rebel groups who oppose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

He also told Putin that Assad must leave power as part of a political transition.

Moreover, he highlighted that a diplomatic solution should be found on Ukrainian crisis adding that sanctions against Russia could be lifted on the condition that Moscow complied with the Minsk agreement.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Obama expressed regret over the incident with the Russian plane which was downed by the Turkish air force in Syria adding that the Russian and US leaders discussed the situation in Syria in detail.

He said both leaders spoke in favor of the movement towards a political settlement of the Syrian crisis. Russia and the U.S. are both involved in a new diplomatic effort in Vienna to bring about a ceasefire, potentially within weeks.