Putin holds 1st talks with Western leaders since Syria strikes

President Vladimir Putin comes face to face with Western leaders on Friday for the first time since Moscow launched air strikes in Syria amid a growing rift over whom they are targeting.

Putin will be in Paris for a peace summit on the Ukraine conflict, but Russia's sudden intervention in Syria looks set to dominate as he holds talks with French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Russia insists it is bombing Islamic State jihadists and other groups, but Western nations are highly sceptical and believe it is trying to shore up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Moscow's long-time ally. 

The Russian air strikes will last for three to four months and will increase in intensity, a Putin ally and senior lawmaker warned on Friday.“There is always a risk of getting bogged down but in Moscow they're talking about three to four months of operations,” Alexei Pushkov, the head of the foreign affairs committee of Russia's lower house of parliament, told France's Europe 1 radio. Pushkov said more than 2,500 air strikes by the US-led coalition in Syria had failed to inflict significant damage on IS jihadists, but Russia's campaign would be more 

intensive.