Obama, Putin clash over Syria leadership at UN Assembly

US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin clashed publicly over the Syrian civil war at the UN General Assembly.

Obama, backed by French President Francois Hollande, insisted that Syrain President Bashar al-Assad must relinquish power, but Putin warned that it would be an “enormous mistake” not to work with him to fight Islamic State militants.

“Lasting stability can only take hold when the people of Syria forge an agreement to live together peacefully,” Obama said in his speech. “The US is prepared to work with any nation, including Russia and Iran, to resolve this conflict. But we must recognise that there cannot be, after so much bloodshed, so much carnage, a return to the pre-war status quo.”

Speaking soon after, Putin spoke about a “great and tragic migration of peoples” that requires the UN to reunite to stabilize Syria.

“The way to do that is to cooperate with the Syrain government and its armed forces who are valiantly fighting terrorism face-to-face,” he said. “To do otherwise would be an enormous mistake.

“We should finally acknowledge that no one but President Assad’s armed forces and Kurdish militia are truly fighting the ‘Islamic State’ and other terrorist organisations in Syria.”

He also called for the creation of a “broad anti-terror coalition” to fight IS, comparing it to the allied forces that defeated Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

The US and Russia have long been at loggerheads over Assad’s future; the US has vehemently opposing him remaining in power, while Russia has been a strong ally and has recently stepped up military support.

Some Western leaders have recently softened their approach towards Assad, with UK Prime Minister David Cameron conceding that the Syrian President might be able to stay on during a political transition.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a key Syrian ally, said that his country was prepared to help in “paving the way for democracy” in Syria.

UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said that five countries – the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Turkey – were crucial to finding a political solution in Syria, but warned that they must all be willing to compromise.