The president said he was working with US -led coalition forces and Russian Federation to establish a ceasefire in Aleppo before the Eid al-Adha religious holiday expected to start around September 11.
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The two were meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.
A sit-down between Obama and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also laid bare the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies’ diverging interests in Syria, with Erdogan pointedly challenging Obama on USA support for Kurds fighting the Islamic State group in Syria.
Obama said the USA was committed to “investigating and bringing the perpetrators of these illegal actions to justice” and assured Erdogan of American cooperation with Turkish authorities. Obama and other USA officials would like to see Russian Federation focus on what Obama referred to as “common enemies”, naming the Islamic State militants and the Nusra Front, an al-Qaida affiliate.
Erdogan said his government was preparing to submit additional evidence about the coup to the United States, and would soon send his justice and Interior ministers for consultations with American authorities. Lavrov’s deputy, Sergei Ryabkov, said a deal was “close” but that Washington had to dissociate itself from Nusra.
Obama said there are going to be enough problems in cyberspace with “non-state actors” using the Internet for theft and other illegal purposes, which creates the need for protecting critical infrastructure and securing financial systems. “We are in an effort to take this step”, he added.
“A no-fly zone could be set up there, and that was my suggestion to both Obama and Putin”. Even as top diplomats vowed to keep trying, President Barack Obama expressed skepticism that an unlikely alliance between rivals would yield the breakthrough needed to end the 5-year-old civil war.
While both Russian Federation and the United States are battling ISIL, Moscow supports President Assad ‘s forces, including with direct military intervention.
Capitalizing on the chaos, Islamic State controls large swathes of the country, while Jabhat Fatah Al-Sham has emerged, sometimes mingling with or fighting side-by-side with more moderate rebels who could potentially feature in a political transition.
Obama said on Sunday that Russian participation was essential. He told reporters it was wrong for Britain to leave the Europen Union.
Kerry, at a news conference, reiterated the continuing efforts to make a cease-fire work. “It is indisputable that it would create a better deal for us than the status quo”, Obama said.
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“Brexit does indeed mean Brexit”, May said.
