Barack Obama slams Syria, Russia over Aleppo atrocities

President Barack Obama says Syria, Russia and Iran have blood on their hands for what’s happened in the Syrian city of Aleppo.

Obama says the world is “united in horror” at the assault on rebel-held areas of Aleppo. Obama – at a White House news conference – is accusing the Syrian government and its two powerful allies of deliberately “surrounding, besieging and starving innocent civilians,” and targeting aid workers and medical personnel.

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READ MORE: Aleppo evacuations suspended after rebels open fire on convoy: Syrian TV

He says entire neighbourhoods have been reduced to “rubble and dust.”  The president also says civilians have been executed.

Obama said he feels “responsible” for some of the suffering in Syria, but he defended his decision to avoid significant military action there.

He said that while military options short of invasion were tempting, it was “impossible to do this on the cheap.”

READ MORE: ‘We never expected this’: Refugees from Aleppo left speechless watching devastation

Still, he pinned the bulk of the blame on Russia, as well as Iran, for propping up Syrian President Bashar Assad.

“This blood and these atrocities are on their hands,” he said as he addressed reporters from the White House briefing room shortly before leaving on his annual Christmas vacation to Hawaii.