However, he said Russia’s stance on Islamic State was similar to others and it had influence over Assad.
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Putin and Obama are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, after both address the annual gathering of world leaders.
“In Syria, when our first objective is to drive out terrorists and combatting terrorists to defeat them, we have no solution other than to strengthen the central authority and the central government of that country as a central seat of power”, said Rouhani, who is visiting New York for the UN General Assembly.
Iraq played down the significance of the step, which comes as Russian Federation ramps up its Syrian military presence in support of President Bashar Assad.
Al Jazeera’s James Bays, reporting from the United Nations, said there was no consensus between Western countries and Russian Federation on how to proceed with the Syrian conflict and “there’s certainly a debate on which enemy to fight first“.
Putin said Russia’s support for the Assad government was based on the UN Charter.
After meeting with French President Francois Hollande, Rouhani said there had been a shift in the West which was “up to a certain level” dropping its insistence that Assad must go.
“The critical thing is that all of the efforts need to be coordinated”, said Kerry, as he headed into talks with Lavrov.
In the run up to the showdown, Putin – isolated by the West over the crisis in Ukraine – has dramatically thrust himself back into the spotlight with a lightning push on the 4.5-year conflict in Syria.
Iran also supports the Shi’ite militias, who have been a key force in the fight against Islamic State in Iraq.
The Obama administration spent much of the past four years calling for the Syrian president’s ouster on grounds that he fueled the rise of extremists by authorizing Syria’s military to conduct genocide-style attacks on civilians.
Washington (CNN)Donald Trump wants to flip the USA strategy against ISIS on its head, drawing down the America’s involvement in fighting the militant group in Syria in favor of a greater Russian presence.
“We are just at the beginning of trying to understand what the Russians intentions are in Syria, in Iraq and try to see if there are mutually beneficial ways forward here”, a senior USA official said. “It’s obviously even more complex, I think, that we would have envisaged”, Power said, adding that the Department of Defense is now reevaluating its approach. Obama will address the body Monday morning, with Putin following shortly after.
Putin’s calls for strengthening Assad’s military come amid striking troubles for Obama’s plan to train and arm moderate rebels to fight the ISIS in Syria.
Washington and its allies counter that Assad triggered the civil war that has given jihadist factions room to grow, and continues to make a political settlement impossible.
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“His fear is of a complete collapse of the state structures in Syria; this could be one of the reasons Russian Federation is talking in this way, but it could also be willingness to show that Russian Federation is an important, substantial player”, Mogherini said.
