“Together with our partners, America is training and equipping the Syrian opposition to be a counterweight to the terrorists of ISIL and the brutality of the Assad regime,” Obama said as Syria’s U.N. delegation watched from the audience. “But the only lasting solution to Syria’s civil war is political: an inclusive political transition that responds to the legitimate aspirations of all Syrian citizens, regardless of ethnicity or creed.”
The fourth area of focus, he said, must be to encourage civil society and entrepreneurship in the Arab and Muslim world, particularly among young people.
The first nation Obama focused on was Russia, which he lumped in with ISIS and the Ebola virus as reasons for “a pervasive unease in our world – a sense that the very forces that have brought us together have created new dangers.”
“Russian aggression in Europe recalls the days when large nations trampled small ones in pursuit of territorial ambition,” he said. “We will impose a cost on Russia for aggression and counter falsehoods with the truth.”
The president also talked briefly about the need for a more robust and coordinated response to the Ebola outbreak in west Africa.