US President Barack Obama has ruled out deploying the ground troops of a US-led coalition to Syria to topple the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
"It would be a mistake for the United States, or Great Britain… to send in ground troops and overthrow the Assad regime," Obama told the BBC in an interview published Sunday.
The US leader also urged the international community to use its influence on parties to the five-year conflict "to sit down at the table and try to broker a transition" of power, as a solely military solution would not settle the long-term issues of Syria.
He added that ISIS terrorists operating in the war-torn country would not be defeated by the end of this year, but the US –led coalition could slowly shrink the area of their operation in Syria.
"[The US-led coalition will continue] to strike ISIS targets in places like Raqqa, and to try to isolate those portions of the country, and lock down those portions of the country that are sending foreign fighters into Europe," Obama pledged.
Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with forces loyal to Assad fighting several opposition factions and extremist groups, such as ISIS and Nusra Front, both outlawed in Russia, Sputnik reported.
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