US doesn't want to topple Assad anymore

The electronic version of the American newspaper the New York Times published an article on Monday, which said that the US authorities are not seeking to ensure the speedy removal of President Bashar al-Assad from power in Syria, and see him as an obstacle in the way of extremists seizing control of the Middle Eastern country. 

"American support for a pair of diplomatic initiatives in Syria underscores the shifting views of how to end the civil war there and the West’s quiet retreat from its demand that the country’s president, Bashar al-Assad, step down immediately," TASS cited the material. 

"The Obama administration maintains that a lasting political solution requires Mr. Assad’s exit. But facing military stalemate, well-armed jihadists and the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, the United States is going along with international diplomatic efforts that could lead to more gradual change in Syria," the New York Times underlined. 

"That shift comes along with other American actions that Mr. Assad’s supporters and opponents take as proof Washington now believes that if Mr. Assad is ousted, there will be nothing to check the spreading chaos and extremism," the publication emphasizes. 

The article also states that "American planes now bomb the Islamic State group’s militants in Syria, sharing skies with Syrian jets. American officials assure Mr. Assad, through Iraqi intermediaries, that Syria’s military is not their target. The United States still trains and equips Syrian insurgents, but now mainly to fight the Islamic State, not the government."