Seeking a regime change in Syria, President Barack Obama on Friday ruled out any unilateral American action against the Assad regime, but pledged support to international partners and Syrian opposition to meet the goal.
‘This is an international problem. It is very much my hope to continue to work with all the various parties involved, to find a solution that brings peace to Syria, stabilizes the region, stabilises those chemical weapons,’ Obama said in a joint news conference with visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
‘But it’s not going to be something that the United States does by itself. I don’t think anybody in the region, including the Prime Minister, would think that US unilateral actions in and of themselves would bring about a better outcome inside of Syria,’ Obama said.
He further added that the US and the international community needs to continue to strengthen the capacity of the Syrian opposition that are on the ground fighting to protect themselves from the Assad regime.
Taking a cautious line, Obama stressed on continuing to mobilise the international community to put more pressure on Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad so that he recognises that he is no longer legitimate and that he needs to go. He also expressed hope that the United States and Russia would succeed in arranging an international peace conference on Syria next month.
‘With respect to what I’ve said in the past around red lines - what I’ve said is that the use of chemical weapons are something that the civilized world has recognised should be out of bounds,’
he said. ‘And as we gather more evidence and work together, my intention is to make sure that we’re presenting everything that we know to the international community as an additional reason, for the international community to put all the pressure that they can on the Assad regime,’ he added.
‘This is an international problem. It is very much my hope to continue to work with all the various parties involved, to find a solution that brings peace to Syria, stabilizes the region, stabilises those chemical weapons,’ Obama said in a joint news conference with visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
‘But it’s not going to be something that the United States does by itself. I don’t think anybody in the region, including the Prime Minister, would think that US unilateral actions in and of themselves would bring about a better outcome inside of Syria,’ Obama said.
He further added that the US and the international community needs to continue to strengthen the capacity of the Syrian opposition that are on the ground fighting to protect themselves from the Assad regime.
Taking a cautious line, Obama stressed on continuing to mobilise the international community to put more pressure on Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad so that he recognises that he is no longer legitimate and that he needs to go. He also expressed hope that the United States and Russia would succeed in arranging an international peace conference on Syria next month.
‘With respect to what I’ve said in the past around red lines - what I’ve said is that the use of chemical weapons are something that the civilized world has recognised should be out of bounds,’
he said. ‘And as we gather more evidence and work together, my intention is to make sure that we’re presenting everything that we know to the international community as an additional reason, for the international community to put all the pressure that they can on the Assad regime,’ he added.