( CNN ) -- At the Group of 20 summit in Mexico , President Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin had their first face-to-face meeting since Putin resumed the Russian presidency in May . The joint statement they issued afterward indicated several issues ( including Iran and Syria ) that the two sides would seek to cooperate on , but it did not announce any significant agreements to do so . More telling were the visual images when the two presidents were together ; Obama appeared to be doing his best to project an image of warmth and friendliness , while Putin was stiff and reserved , as he usually is with other world leaders . It appeared that Obama was earnestly seeking to befriend Putin , but Putin was not reciprocating . Why would Putin behave this way ? It may be because , unlike Obama , he may not be looking for opportunities to cooperate , nor be embarrassed about forgoing them . He appears to have a much more transactional approach to foreign policy , running something like this : Washington wants Moscow to adopt the American approach to Iran and Syria and several other issues . But it is unwilling to make concessions to Moscow to get it . Two such concessions would be abandoning ballistic-missile defense plans that Moscow finds threatening and repealing the Cold War-era Jackson-Vanik Amendment that continues to limit Russian-American trade . But much to Moscow 's frustration , Washington is either unwilling or unable to accommodate Russia . So why should Russia accommodate America ? News : Obama and Putin discuss Syria , other topics during two-hour talk . The Obama administration would undoubtedly respond that surely Putin does not want Iran to acquire nuclear weapons , and thus should fully cooperate with the international effort to prevent this . And as Benjamin Rhodes , Obama 's director for strategic communications at the National Security Council , was quoted as saying Monday about Syria , `` We 've been working to get the Russians to come in line with , frankly , the broad international community . This is not just an issue between the United States and Russia . '' Surely Russia would not want to defy the `` broad international community '' on Syria . Especially when it comes to Syria though , Putin and the Russian foreign policy establishment believe that America and the `` broad international community '' have missed the point . As bad as Bashar al-Assad 's regime may be , Russia believes its downfall will be far worse for everyone , and not just Russia . The Russians believe the most likely consequence would be the rise of a radical Sunni regime or a drawn-out civil war . Either way , far more people will be killed . Nor does Moscow see increasing sanctions -- much less the use of force -- as being effective in resolving the Iranian nuclear crisis . Moscow does n't see itself as willfully and wrongly defying `` the broad international community . '' It genuinely believes that America and its Western allies are pursuing misguided policies toward Syria and Iran . For Obama to think he can get Moscow to adopt the American approach without compensation is simply an insult to Putin . The Obama administration needs to understand that America can not have its borscht and eat it , too . If it wants Russia 's cooperation on Syria and Iran , it is going to have to make significant concessions to Moscow on other issues . Washington must now decide whether the cooperation it wants from Russia is really worth that . Syria exposes cool spots in U.S.-Russia ties . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Mark N. Katz .
Putin : Obama and Mark Katz said they 'd cooperate but did n't say how they would . He says Obama appeared to want to befriend Putin at G-20 , but Putin was stiff and reserved . He says if Obama wo n't accommodate U.S. , Russia wo n't accommodate U.S. Katz : Russia thinks U.S. mistaken on Obama and regime 's ouster will bring worse carnage .