Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama held talks in Paris on Syria as world leaders took the opportunity of a United Nations climate summit to discuss the conflict that's become the global epicenter of Islamic State terrorism and Europe's refugee crisis.
While Putin also held talks with China's Xi Jinping, who said they should meet regularly because "the situation in the world is changing quickly," there was no meeting between the Russian leader and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the climate summit.
Syria and its fallout ensure that "the internal political, economic and social challenges will go on to overshadow not only 2016 but will shake the very foundations of the EU" and its economic and monetary union, said Alastair Winter, chief economist at Daniel Stewart & Co. in London.
Hollande and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi agreed on the "absolute necessity" to combat Islamic State everywhere, as well as the need for a political transition in Syria and a national unity government in Libya "as soon as possible," Hollande's office said.