According to the Kremlin’s statement, during their discussion on Syria, Putin called on Obama to find a way to separate militant groups from the moderate Syrian opposition in order to continue peace talks.
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Obama spoke with Putin by phone yesterday ahead of what will likely be his last trip as head of state to Europe to meet with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) leaders.
WASHINGTON (CNN) – Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a message to President Barack Obama in honor of Independence Day, the Kremlin government said Monday. However, using an alternative acronym for IS, it said that “the presidents confirmed their commitment to defeating ISIL and the Nusrah Front”.
Putin met with leaders from Azerbaijan and Armenia, both former republics of the Soviet Union, on June 20 to reach an agreement over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan.
They also pushed for sustained access to humanitarian aid for victims of the conflict.
Relations between Moscow and Washington hit a post-Cold War low in 2014, when Russian Federation annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and threw its weight behind separatists in eastern Ukraine.
During a visit to Georgia ahead of a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit, US Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed Wednesday the 72-hour ceasefire announced by the Syrian army to coincide with Eid al-Fitr which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
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The law, which Putin’s ruling United Russia party has championed, includes measures toughening punishment for extremism and terrorism, increases the state’s surveillance capabilities, and criminalizes failure to inform the authorities about certain crimes. Moscow rejects having a hand in the crisis and blames the West for the bloodshed that has so far claimed the lives of more than 9,200 people and left over 21,000 others injured.
