The ongoing 70th session of the U.N. General Assembly opened with a focus on the Syrian refugee crisis and President Barack Obama didn't mince his words about Bashar al-Assad's oppressive regime.

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Obama was pretty straightforward about the state of affairs in Syria and squarely laid the blame on the country's leader, al-Assad. He called Assad a "tyrant" adding that he "drops barrel bombs to massacre innocent children."

There was also volleying between the Vladimir Putin and Obama. The Russian regime was criticized by Obama for not helping deal with the situation in Syria and attacking Assad's leadership. Putin stood his ground and stated that the terrorists in Syria were of prime concern and in fact they should work on assisting Assad's regime to help bring those forces down.

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Recently al-Assad finally spoke about the refugee crisis and pointed the blame at Europe for "supporting terrorists."

RT was also present at the Russian press interaction, and got the president's responses. Assad suggested that Europe was "not dealing with the cause"

"It is not about that Europe didn't accept them or embrace them as refugees, it's not about dealing with the cause. If you are worried about them, stop supporting terrorists. That's what we think regarding the crisis. This is the core of the whole issue of refugees."

The president conceded to the fact that all the Syrians were looking for was security and safety, and that political forces "should unite around what the Syrian people want." 

"If we ask any Syrian today about what they want, the first thing they would say - 'We want security and safety for every person and every family,'" he said.

Watch Obama's address:

Tags: United Nations Barack Obama Bashar al-Assad Syrian Refugee Crisis