HispanicBusiness

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama held a telephone conversation over the Syrian crisis on Wednesday, though the two sides still insisted on different approaches to the 17-month crisis in the Middle East country.

According to the Kremlin press service, the telephone conversation was initiated by the American side.

Discussing in details the situation in Syria in the context of the UN Security Council debates on draft resolutions on Syria, both leaders noted a trend toward exacerbation in Syria, the press service said in a statement.

"The exchange of views demonstrated the two nations' concurrence on the overall assessment of the situation in Syria and the ultimate goal of settlement," the Kremlin said.

However, the Kremlin also admitted the differences, regarding concrete measures for achieving this settlement, between the two sides remain.

"The presidents of Russia and the United States agreed to maintain a close dialogue on this issue," the Kremlin said.

Besides, Obama also expressed condolences to the victims of devastating floods in southern Russia, which have claimed more than 170 lives.

Later on Wednesday, the UN Security Council decided to postpone its vote on a Western-proposed draft resolution concerning Syria to Thursday morning.

The draft resolution, whose sponsors include France, Germany, Portugal, Britain and the United States, grants extension of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) for a period of 45 days, and threatens non-military sanctions by quoting Chapter VII of the UN Charter if the Syrian government fails to pull out troops and heavy weapons from populated areas.

Russia, in its own version of draft presented to the Council, asks for extending the mandate of UNSMIS for another three months, reducing the number of military observers and asking the operation to take on a more political mission.

Russia is opposed to any threat of sanctions against Syria.