US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin here on Sunday, agreed on a political transition in Syria.
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President Obama joined other world leaders for a summit at this Mediterranean resort Sunday, vowing to join French authorities in hunting down the terrorists responsible for the worst attack on Paris since World War II.
“As was true with the bad attacks that took place in Ankara, the killing of innocent people based on a twisted ideology is an attack not just on France, not just on Turkey, but it’s an attack on the civilised world”, he said.
After a moment of silence for the victims in Paris, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told everyone gathered that terrorism threatens everyone.
The Paris attacks on Friday darkened the mood and injected urgency into anti-terrorism discussions at the G20 summit, which is also grappling with the spreading refugee crisis, climate change and tax avoidance by multinational corporations. The group has beheaded Americans and continues to take territory and recruit fighters despite daily airstrikes by a U.S.-led coalition.
The two heads of state held the summit in an unlikely venue, nearby a potted palm tree as other delegates wandered by and security agents partially obstructed the view of the television camera. The Islamic State group, formerly known as either ISIL or ISIS, claimed responsibility for the attacks in France.
Putin and Obama talked “extensively”, Russian news agencies cited top Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov as saying.
Vladimir Putin, Russian President: “We do understand well that winning against the terror threat and helping millions of those who lost their homes is only possible by uniting the efforts of the whole global community”.
Obama, Cameron, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius will meet on Monday afternoon to discuss tackling ISIL and making a coordinated effort on the political process in Syria.
Putting aside important differences, Obama and Putin met over a coffee table on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Turkey after the Paris bombing and shooting assaults, which killed at least 129 people and sparked global outrage.
Turkey is deeply opposed to Russia’s air strikes but has received only a lukewarm reaction so far to its proposal for a safe zone free of Islamic State jihadists to be created inside Syria as a haven for refugees.
“The one responsible for the attacks in Paris can not be put at equal foot with refugees and asylum seekers and displaced people”.
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The latest on the deadly attacks in Paris.
