United States State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated on Monday that the policies implemented by both the Obama administration and the current Biden administration, which sought to "weaken" key allies of the now-ousted President Bashar al-Assad, such as Russia and Iran, have contributed to the current situation in Syria.

"It is the sanctions we imposed on the Syrian regime that weakened the Syrian regime," Miller told reporters at a press conference. "It is the international coalition that we marshaled to hold Assad accountable. And then, the fact that when Assad found himself at a moment of weakness in the past ten days, the fact that his biggest backers have been weakened by diplomatic and military efforts, supported by the United States, had a major role in what happened," Miller stressed.