Putin and Obama concede support for Syria.

US President Barack Obama and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin both called for cooperation on how to bringing an end to the war in Syria, but clashed over whether any peace plan should include support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Addressing the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York, Obama said the US would be willing to work with both Russia and Iran to find a solution to the bloodshed that has ravaged Syria since civil war broke out more than four years ago.

“The United States is prepared to work with any nation, including Russia and Iran, to resolve the conflict,” Obama said. However, he added: “But we must recognise that there cannot be, after so much bloodshed, so much carnage, a return to the pre-war status quo.” In voicing a willingness to deal with Iran and Russia, both staunch backers of Assad, Obama was openly acknowledging their influence in Syria and swallowing a somewhat bitter pill for the United States.

Tehran has armed the Syrian government and, through its backing of Hezbollah fighters, has helped Assad fight rebels seeking to end his family’s four-decade rule. Russia has recently engaged in a military build-up in Syria, where it has a naval base that serves as its foothold in the Middle East. Assad's future was expected to be a top issue during a rare face-to-face meeting late Monday between Obama and Putin.

But Obama’s refusal to envisage a solution to the Syria crisis that would include Assad carrying on as president underlined the divisions that still exist between Russia, Iran and much of the West. Putin, speaking after Obama, also acknowledged the need for “broad coalition” of international actors in Syria, particularly in combating the Islamic State jihadist group (IS), which has capitalised on the chaos in the country to gain huge swathes of territory.

However, the Russian leader restated Moscow’s belief that support for Assad was the best way to stop the spread of IS and other extremist groups. “We think it is an enormous mistake to refuse to cooperate with the Syrian government and its armed forces who are valiantly fighting terrorism face to face,” Putin told the General Assembly. “We should finally acknowledge that no one but President Assad’s armed forces and (Kurdish) militia are truly fighting the Islamic State and other terrorist organizations in Syria,” he said.

Obama was adamant over Washington’s continued refusal to support Assad, referring to him as a “tyrant” who “drops barrel bombs to massacre innocent children”. However, he did not explicitly call for Assad’s ouster and he suggested there could be a “managed transition” away from his rule, the latest sign that despite US hostility toward the Syrian leader it is willing to see him stay for some period of time.

The rise of the Islamic State group, as well an influx of Syrian refugees in Europe, has pressed some Western leaders into softening their stance on cooperation with Iran, Russia and even Assad in establishing peace in Syria. US Secretary of State John Kerry has said that although Assad must step down, that need not immediately be upon reaching a settlement to end the country's civil war, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for Assad to be included in peace talks.

At the same time, with the US leading airstrikes against IS group targets in Syria and Russia increasing its military presence in the region, the two have found it necessary to increase communication and earlier this month Moscow and Washington held their first military-to-military conversation in more than a year. Meanwhile, Obama made it clear that the US has no intention in letting up on its anti-IS group military campaign.

“There is no room for accommodating an apocalyptic cult like the IS group (the Islamic State group) and the United States makes no apology for using our military as part of a broad coalition to go after it,” Obama said Monday. The US President also used his speech to address another source of tension with Russia, defending Western sanctions against Moscow for its actions supporting rebels in Ukraine.

Obama said he was not seeking a return to the Cold War, but argued that the United States couldn't stand by while a nation's sovereignty was being violated. "If that happens without consequences in Ukraine, it could happen to any nation gathered here today," Obama said. The Ukraine crisis has indeed driven US-Russian relations to post-Cold War lows. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and a pro-Russian armed insurgency continues in eastern Ukraine, with Kiev and NATO accusing Moscow of backing and supplying it.

A shaky peace deal for Ukraine was brokered in February by France and Germany, and Russia doesn't want the United States to become engaged in those talks. Another four-way meeting of leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany is set to take place in Paris this weekend.

US officials say Obama will stress to Putin the importance of local elections in Ukraine going forward in October without interference.