French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are holding one-on-one meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Paris today as Western leaders attempt to establish Moscow's motivation for bombing Syria.
The three leaders are in the French capital as part of the 'Normandy Quartet' to discuss the Ukraine crisis with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
However, sideline meetings on Russia's involvement in Syria are likely to dominate.
As Russian jets carried out their second day of airstrikes in Syria on Thursday, Mr Hollande said it was essential that "the strikes, regardless of who is carrying them out, target Daesh (the Islamic State group) and not other groups."
This week's strikes by Russian jets appear to have targeted a wide range of groups fighting against the government of Syrian President Bashar al Assad and not just the Islamic State group.
The US has accused Russia of "indiscriminate" bombing against the Syrian opposition.
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters at the United Nations in New York that Moscow's objectives were the same as those of the US-led coalition,
"We see eye to eye with the coalition on this one," he said.
"If it looks like a terrorist, if it walks like a terrorist, if it acts like a terrorist, if it fights like a terrorist, it's a terrorist ... We are going to fight ISIL (IS) and other terrorist groups. This is the same position as the Americans are taking."
The convoluted objectives of Russia and the US-led coalition raise the prospect of Russian warplanes bombing opposition groups who are receiving support and training from Western countries.
It has already been claimed, but not confirmed, that Russian jets hit a camp operated by a rebel group trained by American CIA agents.
The strikes were said to be among 30 conducted by Russian planes in Syria after Vladimir Putin entered the conflict on Wednesday.
Russia maintains that 12 Islamic State targets, including an IS command centre, were hit in the wave of strikes.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls echoed President Hollande's concerns over Russia's objectives, saying: "If you want to fight terrorism, you should first destroy Daesh [IS] sites. And I see that that is unfortunately not the Russian position."
The talks between Mr Putin, Ms Merkel and Mr Hollande represent the first leader-to-leader discussions since Russia entered the air war and should help in allowing Western countries to better understand Russia's objectives.
Russia's close relationship with Mr Assad's regime and Moscow's desire to see him hold onto power would explain why Russian warplanes are not limiting their strikes to IS.
Targeting moderate and secular anti-Assad groups in Syria would allow government forces to regain control of areas it has lost - a strategy that runs contrary to the US-led coalition's strategy which is to destroy IS while at the same time insisting that Mr Assad must step down.
Away from Paris, there will be a separate focus at the UN in New York, where Syria's foreign minister is to address world leaders.
(Sky News)
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