Putin and Obama

The Kremlin and White House have confirmed that Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama will meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly next week in New York.

It will be the first time the two leaders have met face to face since last November at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit when they only "exchanged a few words" according to the Kremlin.

There appear to be divisions, however, about the key content of next week's meeting.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters that when President Obama speaks to Putin "the top item on his agenda will be Ukraine." He said Obama was going to focus the meeting on making sure Russia complies with its obligations under the Minsk agreements, which are aimed at ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

The Kremlin, on the other hand, has said the focus of the meeting will be the situation in Syria. In comments repeated in Russian state media, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, "Quite naturally, Syria is problem number one." Asked whether Ukraine would be discussed, he said: "Well, if time allows."

There is also disagreement over who appears to have pushed for the meeting.

The Kremlin has suggested it was arranged by mutual agreement, whereas the White House said it was being held at Russia's behest.

Washington said the Russians had made "repeated requests" for a meeting and were "more desperate" to talk, suggesting this was because economic sanctions were having an impact on the country. In the second quarter of this year the Russian economy shrank by 4.6 percent, according to the country's national statistics agency.

Russia not isolated

At a time when Russia is under international sanctions from the West over its role in the Ukraine crisis, Vladimir Putin will be using his meeting with the US president to demonstrate to the world that he is not isolated. This, according to Andrew Weiss, head of the Russia-Eurasia program at the Carnegie Endowment think-tank in Washington, will "make the White House very uncomfortable."

Distancing the United States from attempts to bring Russia back into the international fold, a senior US official stressed that the meeting had been agreed to because it would be "irresponsible" not to.

Putin is also arriving in New York at a time when the West has been criticized for a lack of a coherent approach to the crisis in Syria.

The Kremlin has repeatedly stated the need to keep Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in power to stem the flow of refugees and defeat the terrorist threat from Islamic State (IS). Western nations have maintained he must be removed in order to destroy IS and build a stable Syria.

However, yesterday German Chancellor Angela Merkel appeared to move closer to Moscow's position by saying the West will have to "talk to many players and Assad is one of them" to end the conflict in the country.

Putin, therefore, is "coming to New York in a very different guise to a couple of weeks ago when people were portraying him as an isolated and pariah figure," Weiss said. "He'll be in the spotlight, overshadowing many other world leaders who are going to be in New York."

Russia key to solving Syria crisis

Both Russia and the United States share particular concerns about the rise of Islamic State in Syria and Vladimir Putin will use his appearance at the UN General Assembly next week to push Russia as being key to solving the conflict there.

"Vladimir Putin," Weiss said, is trying "to demonstrate that he is a force to be reckoned with on the international stage and he wants the opportunity to look like he is important on the top table of international dealings."

In recent weeks the US has expressed concern about Russia's military buildup in Syria in support of al-Assad. This is reported to include a new air base and fighter jets.

In an interview with CBS News, to be broadcast this Sunday, Putin said "there is no other solution to the Syrian crisis than strengthening the effective government structures and rendering them help in fighting terrorism."

Popularity boost in Russia

Putin will use his meeting with Obama and his speech at the UN General Assembly to re-shape the international community's approach to the crisis in Syria and to show he is not an international pariah, analysts say. The Russian leader also hopes to bolster his standing at home ahead of parliamentary elections next year.

Andrei Kolesnikov, Senior Associate at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said the Russian president will use his time in New York to "send a clear signal to his domestic audience that 'we are defending our country' when our western partners are not trustworthy." This, he said, will be the key theme of Putin's speech at the UN.

The speech and meeting with Obama, however, could be frosty given the White House's recent comments about the Russian president.

A domestic audience

In the announcement about the meeting, and in an attempt to apparently avoid being too deferential to the Russian leader, the White House suggested Putin was image-conscious.

Earnest said that, during his recent meeting with Israel's prime minister, Putin was "striking a now-familiar pose of less-than-perfect posture and unbuttoned jacket and, you know, knees spread far apart to convey a particular image."

There is no doubt that Putin's image in Russia is heavily controlled, and that the Kremlin could present his appearance and meeting with the US president next week in New York as a propaganda victory at home.

"The Soviet Union was mighty and solved problems in its zone of influence, including in the Middle East," Kolesnikov said. "Putin's Russia is, in that sense, its successor and is ready to dictate the new rules of the new world order and to manage a situation one thousand kilometers from its borders. Therefore Putin is strong. Not weak."