Malcolm Turnbull and Vladimir Putin’s sneaky sideline meeting

PRIME Minster Malcolm Turnbull and Russian President Vladimir Putin veered from their official G20 schedules to grab a chat in China.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had a sneaky sideline chat with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Picture: Aly Song/AP

PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull has come away from the G20 leaders summit in China managing to secure some one-on-one time with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mr Turnbull met informally with the Russian leader on the sidelines of the summit as official talks went on.

The pair discussed the challenges of Syria, and came away in agreement that a workable political solution was vital.

Mr Putin said it required a transition, not a revolution, and this would include elections some time in the future.

But the most immediate issue was to defeat all terrorist groups in the region, the Russian leader said.

Australia and Russia are seeking a counter-terrorism memorandum of understanding, which both leaders said they would work quickly to conclude.

Mr Turnbull also raised the issue of the downing of MH17 over Ukraine, saying Australia would continue to work towards bringing the culprits to justice. Mr Putin acknowledged this was important for Australia.

Mr Turnbull earlier told reporters the need for a political solution in Syria was “greater than ever”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin apparently found some common ground during their meeting over Syria. Picture: Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin Pool Photo/AFP

“The problem is that the various parties are well resourced. The Assad regime in particular of course has Russian support,” Mr Turnbull said.

“Bringing them together has proved to be very, very challenging.”

However, Mr Turnbull said Australia was committed to the destruction of Islamic State in the field and would be “unrelenting” in this effort.

The pair’s chat followed a 90-minute showdown over the same contentious topic between Mr Putin and US counterpart President Barack Obama.

Despite emerging from the tense talks without a breakthrough, Mr Obama touted the talk as “productive” and said there was some alignment with his Russian counterpart on Syria.

Addressing the media after the meetings, Mr Obama said the US and Russia had not given up on negotiations that could stem the bloodshed in Syria, but acknowledged that leaders were challenged by “gaps of trust” between the rival powers.

Significant sticking points remained in the negotiations over the creation of an unlikely military partnership between the two countries, focusing firepower on “common enemies” in Syria, Mr Obama said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also meets with US counterpart Barack Obama for a tense sideline meeting during the G20 Leaders Summit in Hangzhou. Picture: Alexei Druzhinin/AFP

“Given the gaps of trust that exist, that’s a tough negotiation,” Mr Obama said at his final press conference of the summit.

“We haven’t yet closed the gaps.”

Mr Obama didn’t detail the trouble spots, although he suggested the US had concerns about Russia holding up its end of the bargain and enforcing the terms.

Any deal would depend on Moscow using its influence with Syrian President Bashar Assad to persuade him to ground planes and stop the assault on opposition forces.

Mr Obama said the aim was to reach “meaningful, serious, verifiable cessations of hostilities in Syria”.

The G20 summit wrapped up on Monday night with leaders agreeing to a “blueprint on innovative growth”, which host President Xi Jinping said was a centrepiece of the global leaders’ meeting.

The conference marked Mr Turnbull’s first official trip to China as Prime Minister.

He will remain in China today to visit e-commerce giant Alibaba, aiming to seal a deal with the China-based company to get more Australian products on its virtual shelves.