In a press briefing Friday, President Barack Obama said that Russian President Vladimir Putin entered Syria "out of weakness" and called his actions against anti-Assad forces "counterproductive."
Obama echoed the White House narrative that Russia was forced to enter Syria because the Assad regime, a long-time Kremlin client state, is in danger of collapse.
"Mr. Putin had to go into Syria not out of strength but out of weakness because his client Mr. Assad was crumbling and it was insufficient for him simply to send them arms and money. Now he's got to put in his own planes and his own pilots," Obama said.
In an attempt to rebuke the popular notion that Putin is a mastermind who the White House is scrambling to keep up with, Obama reminded the audience that Russia is part of a three-member coalition while the United States leads 60 nations.
"I didn't see after he made that speech in United Nations suddenly the 60-nation coalition that we have started lining up behind him. Iran and Assad make up Mr. Putin's coalition at the moment. The rest of the world makes up ours," he said.
The president then responded to Russian airstrikes on U.S.-backed moderate opposition in Syria, calling the Kremlin’s actions "counterproductive."
Obama’s remarks come after three days of Russian airstrikes inside Syria, many of which have hit U.S.-backed opposition groups rather than the Islamic State, Russia’s proclaimed target.
A transcript of his comments is available below:
BARACK OBAMA: Now, last point I just want to make about this because, you know, sometimes the conversation here in the beltway differs from the conversation internationally. Mr. Putin had to go into Syria not out of strength but out of weakness because his client Mr. Assad was crumbling and it was insufficient for him simply to send them arms and money. Now he's got to put in his own planes and his own pilots. And the notion that he put forward a plan and that somehow the international community sees that as viable because there's a vacuum there - I didn't see after he made that speech in United Nations suddenly the 60-nation coalition that we have start lining up behind him. Iran and Assad make up Mr. Putin's coalition at the moment. The rest of the world makes up ours. So I don't think people are fooled by the current strategy. It does not mean that we could not see Mr. Putin begin to recognize that it is in their interests to broker a political settlement. And as I said in New York we're prepared to work with the Russians and the Iranians as well as our partners who are part of the anti-ISIL coalition. Nobody pretends it's going to be easy. But I think it is still possible. And so we will maintain lines of communication but we are not going to be able to get those negotiations going if there's not a recognition that there's got to be a change in government. We’re not going to go back to the status quo ante. And the kinds of air strikes against moderate opposition that Russia is engaging in is going to be counterproductive. It’s going to move us farther away rather than towards the ultimate solution that we're all -- we all should be looking for.