LOS CABOS, Mexico – President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed Monday that Syrians should choose their own next government, marking a subtle shift for both the United States and Russia as they confront the prospect that Russia's main ally in the Mideast could slide into civil war.

Sharing pledges of common ground, yet hardly much eye contact or obvious kinship in front of reporters, Obama and Putin met for the first time since the Russian leader returned to the presidency last month. Obama spoke at greater length, emphasizing several areas of cooperation between the onetime Cold War enemies, but the unending bloodshed in Syria hung over the talks.

The two leaders "agreed that we need to see a cessation of the violence, that a political process has to be created to prevent civil war and the kind of horrific events that we've seen over the last several weeks," Obama said. Putin, seated next to Obama following the private meeting, said: "We've been able to find many commonalities" on Syria.