Obama: Russian moves will lead to 'quagmire' in Syria

President Barack Obama said Friday that Russian moves in Syria to prop up Bashar al-Assad’s regime would end in a "quagmire" because the overwhelming majority of Syrians want Assad to go. 

"It won't work. And they will be there for a while if they don't take a different course," Obama said referring to a recent Russian military build-up and airstrikes in Syria.

The American president said he had made it clear to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in New York earlier this week that it's not possible to "rehabilitate" Assad in the eyes of Syrians. 

"This is not a judgment I'm making," he added. "It is a judgment that the overwhelming majority of Syrians make."

Obama's comments came during a White House press conference in which he named John King to run the Education Department when Arne Duncan retires in December. 

He also claimed that Moscow's move in Syria were not out of strength but out of weakness because Assad's power was melting which led

Putin to put in his planes and pilots on the ground.

Moscow has been deploying arms and troops to the a base in western Syria and earlier this week, Russian jets began airstrikes in Syria that they say targets Daesh.  

Reiterating that the U.S. is ready to work with any party to stop the humanitarian disaster in Syria, Obama said it would be possible only if Assad leaves power. 

Obama also noted that he would not join the Russian military campaign as Moscow acts in a way to support the regime rather than going after Daesh. 

"He doesn't distinguish between ISIL and a moderate Sunni opposition that wants to see Mr. Assad go," Obama said referring to Putin. "From their perspective, they're all terrorists, and that's a recipe for disaster."

The U.S. engaged with moderate Syrian opposition forces in order to have a partner to work with when the Assad regime falls, according to Obama, 

"The Russian policy is driving those folks underground, or creating a situation in which they are de-capacitated, and it's only strengthening ISIL." he said. 

The U.S. recently suspended a train-and-equip program for Syrian opposition groups after some of the trained forces defected to their former fronts. 

"I'm the first one to acknowledge it has not worked the way it was supposed to," Obama said, adding that the U.S. wanted the trained fighters to focus on Daesh, while these forces were also bombed by the Syrian regime. 

He suggested that the U.S. would continue to build up Kurdish forces’ capacity in northern Syria to fight against Daesh and also partner with opposition groups that believe Daesh recruitments will increase as long as Assad remains in power.

The U.S. and several of its allies, including Turkey and Saudi Arabia, issued a joint statement Thursday expressing concern for the Russian airstrikes in Syria.