The much awaited summit between US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday could produce only an agreement that the violence in Syria has to end.

The two leaders could not offer any new ideas to end the 15-month bloodshed in that country. They showed no signs of healing a rift over whether to impose tougher sanctions on Damascus.

The summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, was also seen as a test whether Obama and Puttin could arrive at a working relationship. However, their differences over the future of Syria and several other issues remain deep.

It was all diplomatic talk after the meeting, with Obama saying there was a “need for a cessation of the violence” in Syria and Putin declaring that the two had found “many common points on this issue.”

The call came as Russia reportedly prepared to send two warships with marines to its naval base in Syria where UN monitors have suspended their patrols because of escalating violence.

Moscow has remained a staunch ally of the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and, along with China, has blocked effective UN action, such as sanctions, to force Damascus to end its violent crackdown on dissent.

Even as Obama and Putin met, the Syrian regime was continuing its onslaught, killing and wounding scores. Human rights groups say as much as 14,000 people have already been killed.

The two leaders agreed that UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan should continue with his initiative to end the Syrian crisis, but that is a hollow call since Damascus has not implemented even its first phase – adopting a ceasefire and allowing free access to UN monitors to areas hit in the regime’s assault.

Similarly, Obama and Putin could only agree that there should be a “diplomatic solution” to Iran’s nuclear standoff with the West. Again, that call is not going to take anyone anywhere since Tehran is engaged in a cat-and-mouse game in the dispute and is unlikely to suspend its high-level nuclear enrichment programme as demanded by the West as part of a negotiated solution.

The Syrian and Iranian crises are intertwined. Iran finds in the Syrian regime its staunchest Arab ally and Damascus finds in Tehran a strong and dependable supporter. Dislodging the Syrian regime means weakening Iran and the US favours this approach. But that offers no solution to the nuclear dispute.

The international community has to come up with new ideas to deal with the two issues. Calls for end to the bloodshed in Syria and for a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear dispute are not simply enough.