President Barack Obama on Thursday cast extreme doubt on whether the United States could trust Russia as a partner to end the Syrian civil war.
“I’m not confident that we can trust the Russians and Vladimir Putin, which is why we have to test whether or not we can get an actual cessation of hostilities,” Obama told reporters at the Pentagon after meeting with members of his National Security Council to discuss the fight against Islamic State.
The president said Russia might not be able to help end the violence, “either because they don’t want to, or because they don’t have sufficient influence over [Syrian President Bashar al-] Assad."
“That’s what we’re going to test,” Obama said, “We go into this without any blinders on.”
The Syrian government and its Russian allies are battling rebels for control of an area in and around Aleppo. Fighting has raged for more than two months, and monitors from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights report at least 6,000 people have been killed or wounded in the past 80 days.
"We're very clear," Obama said, "that Russia has been willing to support a murderous regime and an individual, in Assad, who has destroyed his country just to cling on to power."
The president said any cessation of hostilities in Syria must include an end to aerial bombings and other methods used to kill civilians that have been carried out by the Syrian regime......http://www.voanews.com/content/obama-lacks-confidence-russia-help-ends-syrian-civil-war/3451036.html
4/8/16
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“I’m not confident that we can trust the Russians and Vladimir Putin, which is why we have to test whether or not we can get an actual cessation of hostilities,” Obama told reporters at the Pentagon after meeting with members of his National Security Council to discuss the fight against Islamic State.
The president said Russia might not be able to help end the violence, “either because they don’t want to, or because they don’t have sufficient influence over [Syrian President Bashar al-] Assad."
“That’s what we’re going to test,” Obama said, “We go into this without any blinders on.”
The Syrian government and its Russian allies are battling rebels for control of an area in and around Aleppo. Fighting has raged for more than two months, and monitors from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights report at least 6,000 people have been killed or wounded in the past 80 days.
"We're very clear," Obama said, "that Russia has been willing to support a murderous regime and an individual, in Assad, who has destroyed his country just to cling on to power."
The president said any cessation of hostilities in Syria must include an end to aerial bombings and other methods used to kill civilians that have been carried out by the Syrian regime......http://www.voanews.com/content/obama-lacks-confidence-russia-help-ends-syrian-civil-war/3451036.html
4/8/16
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