US President Barack Obama said he is “not optimistic” about Syria’s future, warning that Aleppo was likely to “fall”.

Obama said the Russian and Iranian backing for Syrian government had made the situation untenable for the opposition.

“I am not optimistic about the short-term prospects in Syria,” he said Sunday at a summit of Pacific leaders in Lima.

“Once Russia and Iran made a decision to back (President Bashar ) Assad in a brutal air campaign… it was very hard to see a way in which even a trained and committed moderate opposition could hold its ground for long periods of time.”

Obama earlier Sunday urged greater efforts to end the violence when he met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

In Damascus, UN envoy Staffan de Mistura proposed during a meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, that the Takfiri terrorists have their autonomous zone in the east of Syria’s second city, warning: “We are running out of time, we are running against time.”

Moallem said the proposal was completely rejected because it violates Syria’s sovereignty, wondering: “How is it possible that the UN wants to reward terrorists?”

Source: AFP