President Obama speaks in the White House Briefing Room on Aug. 28, 2014.(Photo: Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images)



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WASHINGTON — President Obama said he will send Secretary of State John Kerry to the Middle East in an effort to build a coalition of "strong regional partners" to confront the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.


He also ruled out direct U.S. military action in Ukraine, saying it's "not in the cards."


"ISIL poses an immediate threat to the people of Iraq, and the people of the region," he said. But he also tamped down expectations that there would be an imminent military response in Syria.


"I don't want to put the cart before the horse. We don't have a strategy yet," he said. "We need to make sure that we've got clear plans, that we're developing them."


He said there would be plenty of time for Congress to review the strategy when it gets back from its summer recess.


"We're going to cobble together the kind of coalition that we need for a long-term strategy as soon as we are able to fit together the military, political and economic components of that strategy. There will be a military aspect to that," Obama said. "And it's going to be important for Congress to know what that is, in part because it may cost some money."


His remarks to reporters Thursday afternoon came before a scheduled meeting of his National Security Council. White House officials said not to expect any decisions to be announced after the meeting.




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The National Security Council meeting also comes as the United States is denouncing another Russian incursion into Ukraine. At a United Nations Security Council emergency meeting U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power repeatedly accused Russia of lying about the conflict.


Obama said there's no doubt that Russia is responsible for the violence in the former Soviet republic, and would pay a price for that.




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"This is not a homegrown indigenous uprising in eastern Ukraine. The separatists are backed, armed and financed by Russia. We've seen deep Russian inbvolvement in everything they've done," he said.


"Russia is already more isolated than at any time since the end of the Cold War. This ongoing Russian incursion into Ukraine will only bring more costs," he said.


Follow @gregorykorte on Twitter.


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