DHAKA: US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will hold their first face-to-face meeting in nearly a year on Monday in New York.

Officials from both countries say, reports the BBC.

The meeting comes amid tension over Russia’s military build-up in Syria and its annexation of Crimea last year.

The two leaders will meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, a US official told the media.

They are last reported to have spoken by phone after the Iran nuclear deal.

‘Given the situations in Ukraine and Syria, despite our profound differences with Moscow, the president believes that it would be irresponsible not to test whether we can make progress through high-level engagement with the Russians,’ a senior administration official told the BBC.

The official said that the main purpose of the meeting from the US point of view was to ensure that Russia abides by the terms of the ceasefire in Ukraine negotiated in Belarus in February.

BDST: 0844 HRS, SEPT 25, 2015
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