But a Kremlin spokesman said separately that Putin and Kerry had not directly discussed military cooperation between Moscow and Washington in Syria – the subject of a proposal that Kerry had brought with him to the Russian capital.
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Currently, the Russians are assisting Syria’s embattled president Bashar al-Assad against several rebel groups while the global coalition led by the Americans mainly focuses on ISIS.
“Nowhere is there a greater hotbed or incubator for these terrorists than in Syria”, Mr. Kerry said Friday, at the top of a meeting with his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Agreement on stopping indiscriminate bombing and a formula for a political transition would create the necessary conditions for a new round of talks and the possible basis of a peace deal, de Mistura said.
Although US officials were unsure whether Russian Federation would agree to the deal, Putin’s comments before the start of the meeting were generally positive.
US officials said there were two major problems leading to the breakdown of Syria’s cessation of hostilities – the failure of the Syrian government to respect it and Nusra Front activity.
He said “terrorism” in Syria had been pushed back “only when the Russians intervened” while the USA was “not serious” about tackling so-called Islamic State.
Meanwhile, he stressed that only the Syrian people are to determine who the president of their country is, who will the president be, and when he should leave office.
The US, which accuses Syria’s leader of responsibility for atrocities, says he must go as part of a political transition to end the conflict there.
“Unfortunately, we’ve sent seen them devote too much of their attention to using their military might to prop up the Assad regime”, he observed.
Ahead of flying to Moscow, Kerry did not deny the report but refused to discuss the proposal in detail until he had been to see Putin.
Speaking to reporters in Paris on Thursday morning, Kerry declined to comment on the leaked proposal.
Last month, Russian jets struck what the Pentagon described as a “border garrison” housing 200 U.S.-supported rebels near the Jordanian border.
“The participants, through the JIG, are to work together to defeat Jabhat al Nusra and Daesh”, reads the text, referring to Al-Qaeda offshoot that has occupied large swaths of Syria, and Islamic State terror group.
Jan Egeland, who chairs the United Nations weekly humanitarian task force, said fighting had prevented access to besieged areas and that the government continued to remove medical supplies from aid convoys.
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Meanwhile on Thursday, Air strikes killed at least 12 civilians including children in two rebel-held neighbourhoods of Syria’s Aleppo city, a monitoring group said.
