Washington: Russia’s failure to distinguish between Islamic State fighters and moderate opposition forces battling against Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, is a “recipe for disaster,” Barack Obama has said, as more evidence emerged that Moscow is targeting anti-regime rebels and not just Isis.
Referring to his meeting with Putin early this week, Obama said a press conference yesterday that he told Putin that it is true that the two countries and the entire world have a common interest in destroying the dreaded Islamic State militant group (ISIS).
“The top line message that I want everybody to understand is, we are going to continue to go after ISIS. We are going to continue to reach out to a moderate opposition. We reject Russia’s theory that everybody opposed to Assad is a terrorist,” he said.
“We think that is self-defeating, it will get them into a quagmire, it will be used as a further recruitment tool for foreign fighters,” Obama said adding that US will work with the international community and its coalition to relieve the humanitarian pressure on refugees.
“We’re working with the Turks and others to see what we can do along the border to make things safer for people. But ultimately, we’re going to have to find a way for a political transition, if we’re going to solve Syria,” he said.
“What I’ve consistently offered, from a position of strength, because the US is not subject to sanctions. We’re not contracting 4 per cent a year. What I’ve offered is a pathway whereby they can get back onto a path of growth and do right by their people,” he added.
“So Putin’s actions have been successful only insofar as it’s boosted his poll ratings inside of Russia, which may be why the beltway is so impressed, because that tends to be the measure of success. Of course it’s easier to do when you have a state-controlled media,” the president said.
“What Russia has now done is not only committed its own troops into a situation in which the overwhelming majority of the Syrian population sees it now as an enemy. But the Sunni population throughout the Middle East is gonna see it as a supporter, an endorser of those barrel bombs landing on kids,” Obama said.
Bureau Report
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