The US president Barack Obama said on Tuesday that he expects a gradual shift in Russia’s strategy in Syria.
“I think it is possible over the next several months that we both see a shift in calculation in the Russians and a recognition that it’s time to bring the civil war in Syria to a close,” Obama said on the sidelines of a UN climate summit in Paris.
“It’s not going to be easy. Too much blood has been shed,” he said, adding that Russia had invested years in keeping Assad’s regime in place.
He also said that the bombing of a Russian commercial flight over Egypt, and the recent downing of a Russian fighter jet by Turkey was slowly changing Russian president Vladimir Putin’s calculations.
Obama is in Paris for the COP21 climate conference, but is holding talks with Putin on the sidelines – mainly on Syria.
