Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama said that the people of Syria should have the opportunity to democratically choose the path of their further development.
"We are convinced that the Syrian people should have the opportunity to independently and democratically choose their own future," the two presidents said in a joint statement issued after their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit on Monday.
The presidents expressed their willingness to cooperate in the issues that concern the settlement of regional conflicts.
“In order to stop the bloodshed in Syria, we call for an immediate cessation of the violence and we pledged to work with other international actors, including the United Nations, Kofi Annan, including the movement towards a political transition to a democratic, pluralistic political system, which would be exercised by the Syrians in the framework of the sovereignty, independence, unity and the territorial integrity of Syria,” the statement said.
Vladimir Putin said that he and Barack Obama found many “common points” on international issues including on Syria.
“We have talked about international issues, including the Syrian one and found many common points,” Putin said after the meeting with Obama.
More than 12,000 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011, according to UN data.
