[ applause ] this work will take time. there are no easy answers to syria and there are no simple answers to the changes that are taking place in much of the middle east and north africa. but so many families need help right now. they don t have time. and that s why the united states is increasing the number of refugees who we welcome within our borders. that s why we will continue to be the largest donor of assistance to support those refugees. and today we are launching new efforts to ensure that our people and our businesses, our universities and our ngos can help as well. because in the face of suffering families, our nation of immigrants sees ourselves. of course, in the old ways of
these will be dueling speeches about what the situation is in syria and what the world should do about it. die meeticly opposed. he s going to criticize what the american stance has been. you ll hear that from the president, too. behind the scenes, when you talk privately to senior administration officials, there s skepticism here as to what could come out of this meeting. you know, what good is there, what would the goal be. they re not even sure but they feel like it s time to give it a try. it s been a long time since these two had a discussion about anything. there s also ukraine out there. ukraine seems to have taken sort of a backseat to the situation in syria. the other issue, to be fair, a couple years ago from this podium the president called for and repeatedly called for assad s removal. you don t hear that anymore because the fact is, one, you survived. two, they see the dangers of assad falling at this point, just as russia does. you ve seen administration goals change ov
structures and rendering them help in fighting terrorism. at the same time, urging them to engage in positive dialogue with the rational opposition and conduct reform. so this is what president putin is going to talk about today. he s going to propose a new coalition against terrorism, with russia, with iran, who the u.s. has shunned for years, now seen as an integral part of the solution. the question for u.s. officials right now is, we understand that there is this russian military buildup. i don t think they re that upset about it because everybody knows if assad were to fall right now, that would open a vacuum for isis. what they want to make sure is that this is all done in the context of an eventual political transition. now, you don t hear about, assad has to go immediately, you hear from leaders that assad doesn t have a place in syria s long-term future. what the disrussians are going
you get at that so differently there s a lot of room for big problems. as the white house described it, this is a dangerous game russia could be playing. as important as the president s speech will be, president putin s speech, president rouhani, all these world leaders are here, what happens on the sidelines, as they say these private one-on-one exchanges could be critical. you have so many by the way, president rouhani arriving at the united nations just moments ago. you have so many key crises facing the world to be confronted here, because they have to be confronted. you have syria, and ukraine. the president with his message of diplomacy, he said he s going to bluntly push for that. he can talk about his successes, but diplomacy in syria hasn t worked. while they have shared interest in syria, they have conflict in
away from this region. this region has enough problems now and for the coming years. most important thing about the deal is that it should not have a negative impact on the arab national security and egypt is an integral part of this security. very diplomatic, speaking of the iran nuclear deal. he says let s hope it works, but i suspect he s not all that enthusiastic, given the tense relationship with iran right now. of course, repeating the mantra. on this issue of syria, he s on iran s side and russia s side and everybody else s side. the mantra shifted from, assad must go. remember the president of the united states said that several years ago. to, okay, he s going to have to stay because. so this is a very important shift in dynamic. you know, of course, the united states has problems with president sisi, as well. not exactly a democrat, but i