The coldest handshake ever! Obama and Putin barely brush palms as they fail to disguise their animosity in frosty exchange at Peru summit

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President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin were photographed in a brief exchange in Peru amid frosty dealings over Syria and support for Donald Trump. 

They spoke briefly on Sunday as an economic summit got under way in Peru, in their first known conversation since Donald Trump was elected the next U.S. president. 

The two leaders stood off to the side together momentarily with aides close by before shaking hands and taking their seats at a round table for the start of the opening session of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima.

The White House said the conversation lasted four minutes.

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President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin walk away from each other after speaking and shaking hands at an economic summit in Peru on Sunday

The two leaders were seen chatting, in their first known conversation since Donald Trump was elected the next U.S. president

Although reporters present couldn't hear what they said, the White House said Obama encouraged Putin to uphold his country's commitments under the Minsk deal aimed at ending the Ukraine conflict. 

Both the White House and the Kremlin said the leaders had agreed that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov should keep working throughout Obama's final months on initiatives to lower violence in Syria and alleviate suffering. 

The short interaction came amid intense speculation and concern about whether Trump's election might herald a more conciliatory U.S. approach to Russia. 

Under Obama, the U.S. has enacted severe sanctions on Russia over its aggressive behavior in Ukraine and has sought unsuccessfully to persuade Moscow to stop intervening in Syria's civil war to help prop up Syrian President Bashar Assad. 

Trump and Putin have already signaled they may pursue a less antagonistic relationship after Trump takes office in January. 

In a phone call shortly after Trump was elected, Putin congratulated him and expressed readiness for a 'partner-like dialogue,' the Kremlin said. 

They stood off to the side together momentarily with aides close by before shaking hands and then taking their seats around a table. It is not clear what they were speaking about 

Obama's brief conversation with Putin comes amid intense speculation and concern about whether Trump's election might herald a more conciliatory U.S. approach to Russia

Putin, pictured in Peru on Sunday, phoned Donald Trump to congratulate him on his election victory

Peru's President Pedro Kuczynski (center back) speaks at the opening session of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Lima, Peru on Sunday

It follows revelations Putin is expected to contact Trump once he takes over in the White House to get his agreement on bombing targets in Syria.

The Russian ambassador to London, Alexander Yakovenko, said Putin had been trying to persuade outgoing President Barack Obama to agree to Russian pilots bombing rebel targets but relations between Obama and Putin were at a low ebb.

Mr Yakovenko told the Sunday Mirror: 'Use of the air force in Syria is part of a diplomacy backed by force.

'We have been trying to coordinate with this US Administration. We'll continue doing so with the next one.'

Britain and the US wanted to impose 'no fly zones' above Aleppo to stop the indiscriminate slaughter of civilians on the ground by Russians planes targeting rebels in the east of the city.  

Trump and Putin have already signaled they may pursue a less antagonistic relationship after Trump takes office in January 

Parents help their children evacuate from their school in Aleppo after rebels shelled a government-held area of western Aleppo

The tensions over Syria comes as disturbing footage emerged capturing the moment an airstrike hit a children's hospital in Aleppo

It comes as disturbing footage emerged capturing the moment an airstrike hit a children's hospital in Aleppo, forcing babies in incubators to be scrambled to safety. 

Recent airstrikes in Aleppo hit a complex of four hospitals, including the paediatric facility, that had been attacked two days earlier. 

The bombings reportedly left the rebel-held east of the city without a functioning hospital, although this claim was contested by the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. 

One doctor at the children's hospital, who identified himself only as Hatem, rushed 14 babies in incubators to another facility a 10-minute drive away while the strikes continued. 

In the run-up to the election, the U.S. also accused Russia of trying to interfere in the election, including by hacking into Democratic Party email systems. 

Obama has raised concerns directly to Putin ahead of the election about Russian hacking, and the U.S. also registered complaints through a hotline set up to avert accidental nuclear war.

Throughout the campaign, the Kremlin insisted that it had no favorites and rejected the claims of interference in the U.S. election. 

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at a town hall with Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) in Lima, Peru, Saturday

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during a meeting with China's President Xi Jingping during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Lima, Peru, Saturday

The meeting with Putin came as Obama prepared for planned separate talks with the leaders of Australia and Canada before wrapping up the final foreign trip of his presidency.

Both countries helped negotiate a multinational trade agreement with the U.S. and nine other Pacific Rim countries. But Congress is unlikely to ratify the deal, dealing a blow to Obama's once high hopes of having the agreement become part of his presidential legacy.

Trump says trade deals can hurt U.S. workers, and he opposes the sweeping Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.

Besides participating in meetings Sunday with other world leaders attending the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Forum taking place in Peru's capital, Obama was sitting down first with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia, a U.S. ally and partner in the trans-Pacific trade deal.

The president also planned to speak with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose nation is another TPP partner.