Russian Federation Should Choose Between Assad and Saving the Syrian State, Says Obama

Speaking after his meeting with Obama, Trudeau said Canada would stay a strong member of the coalition against Islamic State, including militarily, but said he wouldn't change his mind about pulling Canada's modest contingent of six CF-18 fighter jets from the battle.

In response to last week's attacks in France, national leaders called for global solidarity in an effort to stamp out the Islamic State's reign of terror.

Russian Federation and Iran, Obama said, will have to make a "fundamental shift" in their policy on Syria if they hope to take on ISIS successfully. "A realistic time frame ... is two to three years".

Obama can't risk appearing to be weak against Putin, as is widely perceived. "This money, as we have established, comes from 40 countries and, there are a few of the G-20 members among them", Putin told journalists, Rawstory.com reported.

"It is unimaginable that you can stop the civil war here when the overwhelming majority of people in Syria consider him to be a brutal, murderous dictator", Obama said.

"This process seems sufficiently divorced from reality that I don't see why anyone in the opposition - civilian or military - would feel encouraged by this", said Evan Barrett, spokesman for the Syrian Emergency Task Force, a Washington-based group that represents Syrian-Americans.

Lavrov reminded that countries, such as France or Assad's long-time enemy Turkey, had earlier insisted the Syrian president should go immediately and called him a magnet for Islamic State. If he follows through on his promises, it could be a game-changer.

Riyadh doesn't have as much influence in the negotiations as other countries that favor keeping Assad in power, so they may be forced to compromise on the Syrian president if the USA and other nations acquiesce to the demands of Iran and Russian Federation.

"The U.S.is waging two wars in Syria", Gabbard said.

Who is best positioned to negotiate a transition plan for Assad to leave Damascus? Putin - as Assad's patron, he has leverage. By taking a more aggressive stance militarily and diplomatically, Putin aims to press an indecisive USA and Europe to cooperate with Russian Federation.

In the current scenario, interests align.

A report by Business Insider said: "Oil sales-the extremists largest single source of continual income-are a key reason they have been able to maintain their rule over their self-declared caliphate stretching across large parts of Syria and Iraq".

As for the candidates seeking to succeed Obama, many have echoed the sentiments of Sen.

"It's often the case that in the wake of a major event, particularly a major tragedy, there is room to start talking about things and get past all the posturing", Daniel Benjamin, a former State Department official under Obama and now director of Dartmouth College's Dickey Center for worldwide Understanding.

If Putin's allegations are correct, it brings up a very interesting dilemma for the United States. In President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov's Turkmenistan, basic rights are denied. And it was notable to us that, you know, those are antiquated tactics.

While the Russian military is acting alone in its airstrikes against ISIS, it is cooperating on the ground with Syrian ground troops loyal to its authoritarian leader, Bashar Assad. If that were the case, Franklin D. Roosevelt wouldn't have allied with the Soviet Union to fight Nazi Germany in World War II, despite Joseph Stalin's history of abuses against his own people.

Why is the Syrian crisis so hard to resolve?