US President Barack Obama has urged for greater efforts to end violence in war-torn Syria in brief talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.<br/><br/>Obama made the comments to his Russian counterpart on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Peru. It was the first time they had met since the US<br/>presidential election and the shock victory of Donald Trump, who has pursued a far warmer relationship with Putin than Obama did.<br/><br/>On Syria, the president noted the need for Secretary John Kerry and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to continue pursuing initiatives, together with the broader international community, to diminish the violence and alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people, a White House official said.<br/><br/>Obama's comments came shortly after the UN's Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, warned that time was "running out" for eastern areas of the city, after talks in Damascus with Foreign Minister Walid Muallem.<br/><br/>Dozens of people have been killed in the onslaught, most of them civilians, a monitor has said, and many have been wounded.<br/><br/>In the four-minute conversation with Putin, Obama also urged Russia to uphold commitments related to the frayed Minsk peace accords which were aimed at ending conflict in eastern<br/>Ukraine.