<p>US President Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin of Russia huddled today for a coffee-table summit, breaking the ice for the first time since Moscow launched air bombardments in Syria.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Sitting in leather armchairs on opposite sides of a small table, the pair leaned forward in animated talks on the sidelines of a summit in Turkey's Mediterranean resort of Antalya, state television showed.<br /><br />According to Russian news agencies, the pair met for 20 minutes.<br /><br />The two heads of state held the summit in an unlikely venue, nearby a potted palm tree as other delegates wandered by and security agents partially obstructed the view of the television camera.<br /><br />Obama, who was gesturing to reinforce his points, and Putin were flanked at the coffee table by White House National Security Advisor Susan Rice and another unidentified man, apparently a translator.<br /><br />None of the content of the conversation was divulged to the journalists covering the summit.<br /><br />Hours earlier, the former Cold War foes shook hands as they took places for a family photograph of the Group of 20 top world economies, a summit now dominated by the Paris bombing and shooting assault, which killed 129 people.<br /><br />It was Obama and Putin's first meeting since Russia launched its declared anti-Islamic State air bombardment in Syria at the end of September. The West suspects the campaign is really aimed at propping up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.<br /><br />Relations between the two powers have deteriorated, in particular over Russia's backing for pro-Moscow rebels in Ukraine and now its air campaign in Syria, launched just after Putin's last meeting with Obama in New York in September.<br /><br />But world leaders gathered in Turkey are seeking to put aside differences to deliver a united message against extremist attacks.<br /><br />"We will only be able to deal with the terrorist threat... if all the international community unites its efforts," Putin said before his meeting with Obama.<br /><br />Obama, moments after the Putin talks, arrived late to the main summit session just as fellow leaders were observing a moment of silence to remember the victims of terror in Paris and also Ankara last month where 102 people died.<br /><br />The frosty atmosphere at Putin's previous meetings with Obama has become a symbol of the decline in Russia-US relations, with the Russian leader occasionally seen slumped in his chair legs akimbo and the US president appearing deeply uncomfortable.<br /><br />Obama in 2013 had joked that Putin looked like "that bored schoolboy in the back of the classroom", adding to offence he caused in 2009 by saying the ex-KGB spy had "one foot in the old ways of doing business". <br /></p>
<p>US President Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin of Russia huddled today for a coffee-table summit, breaking the ice for the first time since Moscow launched air bombardments in Syria.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Sitting in leather armchairs on opposite sides of a small table, the pair leaned forward in animated talks on the sidelines of a summit in Turkey's Mediterranean resort of Antalya, state television showed.<br /><br />According to Russian news agencies, the pair met for 20 minutes.<br /><br />The two heads of state held the summit in an unlikely venue, nearby a potted palm tree as other delegates wandered by and security agents partially obstructed the view of the television camera.<br /><br />Obama, who was gesturing to reinforce his points, and Putin were flanked at the coffee table by White House National Security Advisor Susan Rice and another unidentified man, apparently a translator.<br /><br />None of the content of the conversation was divulged to the journalists covering the summit.<br /><br />Hours earlier, the former Cold War foes shook hands as they took places for a family photograph of the Group of 20 top world economies, a summit now dominated by the Paris bombing and shooting assault, which killed 129 people.<br /><br />It was Obama and Putin's first meeting since Russia launched its declared anti-Islamic State air bombardment in Syria at the end of September. The West suspects the campaign is really aimed at propping up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.<br /><br />Relations between the two powers have deteriorated, in particular over Russia's backing for pro-Moscow rebels in Ukraine and now its air campaign in Syria, launched just after Putin's last meeting with Obama in New York in September.<br /><br />But world leaders gathered in Turkey are seeking to put aside differences to deliver a united message against extremist attacks.<br /><br />"We will only be able to deal with the terrorist threat... if all the international community unites its efforts," Putin said before his meeting with Obama.<br /><br />Obama, moments after the Putin talks, arrived late to the main summit session just as fellow leaders were observing a moment of silence to remember the victims of terror in Paris and also Ankara last month where 102 people died.<br /><br />The frosty atmosphere at Putin's previous meetings with Obama has become a symbol of the decline in Russia-US relations, with the Russian leader occasionally seen slumped in his chair legs akimbo and the US president appearing deeply uncomfortable.<br /><br />Obama in 2013 had joked that Putin looked like "that bored schoolboy in the back of the classroom", adding to offence he caused in 2009 by saying the ex-KGB spy had "one foot in the old ways of doing business". <br /></p>