US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin agreed there was "no military solution" for the war in Syria, in a joint statement approved on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific summit, the Kremlin said. "The presidents agreed that the conflict in Syria has no military solution," and confirmed their "determination to defeat ISIL", the Kremlin website said, using an acronym for the Islamic State jihadist group. The two talked at the summit in Vietnam's Danang after several days of uncertainty over whether a meeting would take place.

Vladimir Putin (left) and Donald Trump had kept the world guessing about whether they would formally meet in Vietnam. Pic/AFP