President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart, Barack Obama, said they found common ground on Syria and pledged to continue dialogue on missile defense during two-hour, closed-door talks at the G-20 summit in Mexico.
The two presidents met for the first time since Putin returned to the presidency on May 7. Putin decided not to attend the G8 summit at Camp David on May 18-19, sending Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in his stead.
Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, described the Los Cabos talks as "very open" in comments carried by The Associated Press. Both leaders affirmed their willingness to find "mutual solutions to existing problems," he said.
Syria featured prominently in the talks, with both leaders voicing their support for UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan and calling for an end to the violence, which has claimed the lives of more than 10,000 Syrians since pro-democracy protests began in March 2011, according to the UN.
In a joint statement, Presidents Putin and Obama said they were "united in the belief that the Syrian people should have the opportunity to independently and democratically choose their own future."
"We've been able to find many commonalities" on Syria, Putin told journalists, The Associated Press reported.
While progress on talks over NATO plans to install a missile-defense shield in Eastern European countries — a thorny issue between the two sides — appeared sluggish, Putin and Obama reasserted their desire to find common ground.
"Despite disagreements in our assessment, we agreed to continue a joint search for ways to resolve controversial issues in the area of missile defense," the leaders' statement said.
Moscow has long criticized the missile-shield plans, saying they will undercut its nuclear deterrent, while Washington sees the shield as a defensive measure to protect NATO members from attacks from the Middle East.
The presidents also called on Iran to make serious efforts to restore international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear program.
"Tehran must fully comply with its obligations under the relevant UN Security Council and IAEA Board of Governors resolutions, and cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency for the expedited resolution of all remaining issues," the statement published on the Kremlin and White House websites read.
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