Obama, Putin talk of easing tensions in Syria, but at odds on how

UNITED NATIONS _ The Cold War-like tensions between the United States and Russia dominated the annual opening Monday of the U.N. General Assembly as President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart differed over the war in Syria and the role of its embattled leader, and exchanged blame for the Ukraine crisis.tmpplchld Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin each called for cooperation in eradicating terrorism and ending conflict. But their differences augured badly for the first meeting in nearly a year that they were to hold later Monday in a bid to find common ground on Syria, fighting the Islamic State and resolving the Moscow-backed separatist revolt in eastern Ukraine.tmpplchld The pair made a brief appearance for the media at the U.N. before their talks began, around 5 p.m. EDT. They smiled and shook hands, but took no questions.tmpplchld In their respective speeches before the world body, they cited U.N. principles and international law in justifying their divergent policies, with Putin _ attending his first U.N. gathering in 10 years _ challenging the legality of the U.S.-led coalition of more than 60 nations formed to combat the Islamic State because it lacks U.N. authorization.tmpplchld In its place, he called for the creation of “a genuinely broad international coalition against terrorism” that would include Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime. Russia, he said, would seek U.N. Security Council consultations on a resolution authorizing such a coalition, a proposal that stands virtually no chance of support from Obama, who denounced the Syrian leader as a “tyrant.”tmpplchld “Realism dictates that compromise will be required to end the fighting and ultimately stamp out ISIL,” said Obama, using an acronym for the Islamic State. “But realism also requires a managed transition away from Assad and to a new leader, and an inclusive government.”tmpplchld The U.S.-Russian tensions underscored the paralysis hampering the United Nations in addressing Syria and other global challenges. The failures were decried by a parade of speakers, with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon denouncing aid shortages for the millions of refugees uprooted by wars in the Middle East, Africa and Asia and washing into Europe.tmpplchld “The global humanitarian system is not broken; it is broke,” Ban told the gathering of monarchs, presidents and prime ministers, which this year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations.tmpplchld While Obama sought to refocus attention on what he denounced as Russian “aggression” in Ukraine, the speeches were dominated by the Syrian war. It has claimed some 250,000 lives, uprooted some 11 million people and destabilized the region, with the U.S. and its European and Arab allies backing rebel groups and Russia and Iran supporting Damascus.tmpplchld International involvement in the more than 4-year-old war deepened this month with Russia’s deployment near the Mediterranean port city of Latakia of jet fighters, armored vehicles, artillery and several hundred troops to bolster Assad, who has lost much of his country to rebels dominated by Islamist extremists.tmpplchld In his nearly 40-minute speech, Obama sounded a theme that diplomacy and adherence to international law have been more successful in bringing lasting settlements to disputes, while repression and military force have fueled violence and instability.tmpplchld He held up as successes his re-establishing diplomatic ties with Cuba after five decades and the international talks that this summer produced the deal to bar Iran from developing nuclear weapons. He pointed to Russia’s 2014 seizure of Crimea from Ukraine and the 2003-2011 U.S. occupation of Iraq as examples where the use of force fueled instability.tmpplchld “Change won’t come overnight to Cuba, but I am confident that openness, not coercion, will support reforms and better the life the Cuban people,” said Obama, who received his loudest applause when he asserted that Congress should lift the U.S. trade embargo on Havana.tmpplchld “No matter how powerful our military, how strong our economy, we understand the United States cannot solve the world’s problems alone. In Iraq, the United States learned the hard lesson that even hundreds of thousands of brave troops, trillions of dollars from our treasury cannot by itself impose stability on a foreign land,” he said.tmpplchld tmpplchld While decrying as violations of international law Russia’s March 2014 annexation of Crimea and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine, Obama sought to justify U.S. financial and non-lethal military aid to Kiev, and the imposition of U.S. and European sanctions on Russian state-run banks and firms and members of Putin’s inner circle.tmpplchld “America has few economic interests in Ukraine,” the president said. “We recognize the deep and complex history between Russia and Ukraine, but we cannot stand by when the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a nation is flagrantly violated.”tmpplchld The United States and its allies charge that Russia instigated the civil war after former pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych fled Kiev in 2014 following a violent crackdown on peaceful demonstrations over his rejection of an accord with the European Union. Some 8,000 people have died and 1.4 million people have been driven from their homes.tmpplchld Putin reiterated his contention that Russia was compelled to intervene in Ukraine as a result of a threat posed by the U.S.-led expansion of NATO into the former Soviet Union.tmpplchld “The discontent of the population with the current authorities was used and a military coup was orchestrated from outside that triggered a civil war as a result,” he claimed.tmpplchld Putin arrived late from Moscow and he didn’t hear Obama’s address. Speaking more than an hour after the U.S. leader, Putin mentioned the United States by name only once _ as a veto-wielding member of the U.N. Security Council.tmpplchld The main target of his criticism on Syria and other international disputes, however, was clear. He also slammed the support that Sunni Arab nations have provided Sunni rebel groups fighting the Assad regime, which is dominated by a minority Shiite sect.tmpplchld Putin blamed the creation of the Islamic State on the disbanding of the Iraqi army after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, pointing out that former Iraqi officers form the extremist group’s top ranks. And he lambasted Washington and its European allies for backing the overthrow of Libya’s late dictator, Moammar Gadhafi, creating the conditions that led to the emergence there of the Islamic State.tmpplchld He slammed the U.S. approach to Syria, including the $500 million effort to train and equip 5,000 moderate rebels to fight the Islamic State _ but not Assad _ a program that’s all but collapsed. To Putin, all rebels fighting to end four decades of despotic Assad family rule are “terrorists.”tmpplchld “We believe that any attempts to play games with terrorists, let alone to arm them, are not just short-sighted, but ‘inflammably hazardous,’” said Putin. “This may result in the global terrorist threat increasing dramatically and engulfing new regions.”tmpplchld In seeking to justify his military buildup, Putin warned of the danger of thousands of foreign fighters, who include extremists from Russia’s Chechen Republic, going home.tmpplchld “We cannot allow these criminals who have already felt the smell of blood, to return back home and continue their evil doings,” he said.tmpplchld Assad’s army is the only force capable of defeating the Islamic State and other rebel groups, said Putin, asserting that Damascus should be included in his proposed new international anti-terrorism coalition.tmpplchld Muslim nations threatened by the Islamic State should also join the new coalition, he said, in apparent reference to Iran, which also is backing Iraq’s Shiite-dominated government and Shiite militias fighting to recover huge swaths of the country from the Islamist movement.tmpplchld His proposal found support from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.tmpplchld “We propose that the fight against terrorism be incorporated into a binding international document and no country be allowed to use terrorism for the purpose of intervention in the affairs of other countries,” said Rouhani, who cut short his visit to New York and flew home to deal with the deaths of scores of Iranian pilgrims in a stampede in Saudi Arabia.tmpplchld Putin’s proposal, exploiting the U.S. failure to contain the Islamic State and find a diplomatic resolution to the Syrian war, is almost certain to be rejected by Obama, although he repeated an invitation to Russia to join the U.S.-led coalition.tmpplchld ___tmpplchld (c)2015 McClatchy Washington Bureautmpplchld Visit the McClatchy Washington Bureau at www.mcclatchydc.comtmpplchld Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.tmpplchld