Russian action in Syria ‘recipe for disaster’, says Obama

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama warned on Friday that Russia’s military engagement in Syria in support of strongman Bashar al-Assad was a “recipe for disaster”, though Washington could still work with Moscow on reducing tensions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin “doesn’t distinguish between Isil and a moderate Sunni opposition that wants to see Mr Assad go,” Obama told reporters, referring to the self-proclaimed Islamic State group.
“From their perspective, they’re all terrorists. And that’s a recipe for disaster.”
Russia carried out a third day of air strikes in Syria, saying it targeted Islamic State, as Putin faced increased international criticism over his military campaign.
The West has raised concerns that Russian forces were also striking at rebel groups opposed to Assad, in a bid to bolster its ally.
Obama accused Moscow of “propping up a regime that is rejected by an overwhelming majority of the Syrian population”.
He also said the United States would “continue to support” moderate rebels in Syria because they were the groups that “can help pick up the pieces and stitch together a cohesive, coherent country” in the aftermath of Assad’s rule.
Obama signalled he was willing to engage with Putin, particularly if Moscow “works instead to bring about a political settlement” instead of doubling down on its military support to Assad.
“I said to Mr Putin that I’d be prepared to work with him if he is willing to broker with his partners, Mr Assad and Iran, a political transition,” Obama said.
“We can bring the rest of the world community to a brokered solution, but that a military solution alone - an attempt by Russia and Iran to prop up Assad and try to pacify the population - is just going to get them stuck in a quagmire.”
Obama also stressed that Russia and the United States would not engage in a “proxy war” due to their different positions on the Syrian civil war.
“We’re going to continue to have tensions. And we’re going to continue to have differences,” Obama said. “But we’re not going to make Syria into a proxy war between the United States and Russia.”
Obama said Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s decision to support a no-fly zone in Syria, which the US president opposes, was not “half-baked”. “Hillary Clinton is not half-baked in terms of her approach to these problems,” he remarked.
“But I also think there is a difference between running for president and being president.”
On the domestic front, Obama reacting to Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush’s comment about a mass shooting in Oregon that “stuff happens,” said the American people should make up their own minds whether the comment was appropriate.
“I don’t even think I have to react to that one. I think the American people should hear that and make their own judgments based on the fact that every couple of months we have a mass shooting and ... they can decide whether they consider that stuff happening,” Obama said at the White House.