US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin shook hands at a luncheon hosted by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon following their remarks at the UN General Assembly meeting on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Earlier on Monday, Obama and Putin both stressed the importance of handling the crisis in Syria, although with different approaches.

President Obama, whose country is leading an international coalition in Iraq and Syria against Islamic State terrorists, said that military force alone is insufficient to end the conflict in Syria.

He noted that in order for the conflict to be resolved, the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad must be replaced.

Washington, however, has been skeptical of Russia’s motives in Syria after the Kremlin announced that it was coordinating with Iraq, Syria and Iran to more effectively fight against Islamic State forces in the Middle East.

On Monday, President Putin also called for a UN resolution that would coordinate efforts to counteract the Islamic State, and called for the creation of a broad international terror coalition.

Contrary to Washington’s view, Russia has consistently argued that the Assad government is the legitimate authority in Syria. Moscow has been supporting the Assad government militarily under international law in order to fight terrorists as well as has been providing much needed humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people.

Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011. The country’s government is fighting a number of allegedly moderate opposition forces, as well as radical Islamist organizations, including the Nusra Front and the Islamic State.