Francois Hollande says Bashar Assad must go, while Putin refuses to take sides

PARIS (AP) — France’s president said Friday that the only way to end the violence in Syria is for its president, Bashar Assad, to go, saying his regime had acted in an “intolerable way.”

Francois Hollande said pressure and sanctions would bring about the departure of Assad’s regime and lead to a peaceful resolution.

“The regime of Bashar Assad has conducted it in an unacceptable, intolerable way and has committed acts that disqualify it” from power, Hollande said after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Syria’s principal backer and protector.

“There is no possible exit from this situation except with the departure of Bashar Assad,” he added.

International pressure is mounting on Syria, including condemnation Friday from the United Nation’s top human rights body for the massacre last week of more than 100 civilians — apparently at the hands of government troops and pro-regime thugs.

“Sanctions are part of indispensable and necessary pressure,” Hollande added, while recognizing that the country is hurtling toward civil war.

Putin ducked a question about sanctions, saying that they were “not always effective.”

Russia, along with China, has twice shielded Assad’s regime from United Nations sanctions over his crackdown on protests.

Putin said he doesn’t support either side in the Syrian conflict, and that it’s “counter-productive” to conclude that Annan’s mission has failed. Sanctions aren’t “efficient,” he said.

“We are not for Bashar Assad or for his adversaries. We want to arrive at a situation where the violence is ended and the possibility of a civil war is completely avoided,” he said.