After 'pleasantries,' Obama presses Putin on Ukraine, Syria

President Obama exchanged "pleasantries" with Russian President Vladimir Putin at an economic summit Sunday, while urging Putin to withdraw from Ukraine and work toward resolving the conflict in Syria, Obama said in a news conference.

The two leaders discussed the need to get the Ukraine ceasefire process finished before the end of the Obama administration on Jan. 20, 2017, Obama said.

However, Obama and Putin did not discuss the interference by Russian operatives in cyber attacks on the Democratic National Committee and other institutions in recent months, Obama said.

"The issue of the elections did not come up, because that's behind us," Obama said.

Obama is winding up his last foreign trip as president, attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Peru. So the four-minute encounter is likely to be the last face-to-face meeting between the two rivals before President-elect Donald Trump takes the helm of U.S. foreign policy.

Trump has promised a fresh start in his relationship with the Russian leader. But in Berlin last Thursday, Obama urged Trump not "just cut some deals" with Russia for the sake of short-term expediency.

Russia often gives more detailed accounts to the Putin's conversations with Obama. But Sunday, Putin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said only that "they greeted each other and exchanged a couple of words," according to the official Russian news agency.