The Obama administration announced Thursday that President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to meet in New York next week.

The leaders will meet in New York City on Monday since both will be in town for the annual United Nations General Assembly meeting, reports Reuters. It has been more two years since the presidents have held a formal sit-down meeting -- long before Russia annexed Crimea and sent military intervention in eastern Ukraine.

According to White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, Putin was "desperate" to hold a meeting with Obama.

"It is fair for you to say that based on the repeated requests we've seen from the Russians, that they are quite interested in having a conversation with President Obama," Earnest told reporters, according to The New York Times. He added that Obama decided "it was worth it at this point to engage with President Putin in a face-to-face meeting to see if the interests of the United States could be advanced."

Obama aides have said the meeting comes at a time of intense tension in Europe and the Middle East; Obama would press Putin to live up to a cease-fire in Ukraine. The American leader also plans to test Putin's intentions in Syria since he dispatched combat aircrafts, tanks and other military equipment in the war-torn country, according to aides.

Although the White House insists that the meeting would focus on eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin claims the main focus would be on Syria, where Russia has sent military forces and equipment in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"Of course, the primary topic will be Syria," Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters. When asked whether Ukraine would be discussed, he replied, saying, "Well, if time allows."

In response, Earnest asserted that "there will be time," while speaking at a briefing in Washington, D.C.