Obama promised: We will continue to aggressively defeat ISIL on all fronts

US President Barack Obama promised on Thursday that the US will continue to defeat the Islamic State, "aggressively, on all fronts," but said the group still has the ability to order or inspire attacks, world media reported, as reported by the Patria News Agency.

The US President admitted that increased pressure on ISIL in Iraq and Syria has prompted ISIL members to focus on attacks outside these two countries, as was recently the case in France.

While losing territory in Iraq and Syria, ISIL is adapting to a new type of attack and moving away from "spectacular attacks like 9/11" carried out by al-Qaeda. It is harder for them to carry out such attacks today than it used to be, and they have realized that attention can also be drawn by smaller attacks.

The threat on American soil "is serious. We take it seriously," Obama said at a press conference at the Pentagon. However, "the Islamic State cannot defeat the United States, nor our NATO partners," Obama emphasized.

He also criticized Russia for its military actions in Syria and called on Moscow to cooperate to find a way out of the crisis.

-The United States remains ready to cooperate with Russia to try to reduce violence and strengthen efforts against ISIL and al-Qaeda... but Russia has not taken the necessary measures, said the US President, emphasizing that he has no confidence in Russian President Vladimir Putin's willingness to cooperate.

Obama condemned the brutality of the Syrian regime against its own people, pushing them into the hands of fundamentalists.

-The regime of President Bashar al-Assad continues to carry out attacks against civilians, as well as block food supplies intended for hungry families. This is regrettable.

Speaking about the $400 million paid to Iran, Obama firmly rejected criticism that it was money paid to Tehran for the release of American prisoners.

-We announced this decision in January, many months ago. It was not a secret, he said, adding that the US does not pay ransoms for hostages and that the money was not intended for the release of prisoners because they believe it only encourages new abductions.

Obama also called the statements of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump that he fears losing due to election rigging "ridiculous" at the same press conference.