President Obama said he told Russian President Vladimir Putin that if Moscow changes its bombing targets in Syria, Russia and the U.S. can cooperate militarily in the war-torn nation.
“If in fact he shifts his focus and the focus of his military, to what is the principle threat, which is ISIL, then that is what we want to see,” Obama said appearing with Filipino President Benigno Aquino III in Manila after the two met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit there.
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Putin is not in attendance, but he was in Antalya, Turkey, where the two spoke on the sidelines of the G-20 summit there.
“I’ve also welcomed Moscow going after ISIL,” Obama said Tuesday while appearing with Aquino. “The problem has been in their initial military incursion into Syria, they have been more focused on propping up President Assad.”
Obama said in the wake of the downing of a Russian airliner after it departed an Egyptian airport Oct. 31 at the hands of ISIS, Putin might be more willing to train his bombs on the Sunni terrorist group rather than forces opposing Assad.
“If that reorientation continues, we’ll be in discussions with Moscow and Mr. Putin to see if that happens,” he said.
Moscow has been a “constructive partner in Vienna in trying to create a political transition” Obama said, referencing talks over the weekend among leaders of the 65-nation anti-ISIS campaign. There the parties agreed to establish a new governance structure for Syria within six months and hold elections within 18. However, they left open the question about what to with Assad, who Syrian opposition groups want removed.
“For the last several weeks, Russia has been a constructive partner in Vienna in trying to create a political transition.”
However, “there is obviously a catch, which is Moscow is still interested in keeping Assad in power,” he said. Yet, “those differences have not prevented us at looking at how could we set up a ceasefire.”
Obama said he told Putin during their conversation that if they can reach agreement on how to diplomatically resolve the Syrian civil war, they can start cooperating more on the military front against ISIS.
“We are going to wait and see whether Russia does end up paying more attention to ISIL targets. If it does so, that’s something we welcome.”
Obama’s remarks come days after leaders of “the quint”: Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the U.S. spoke on the sidelines of the G-20 in Antalya, Turkey and agreed to keep in place economic sanctions against Moscow for Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine.
