KUALA LUMPUR: President Barack Obama vowed Sunday that the United States and its international partners “will not relent” in the fight against the militant Islamic State group, insisting the world would not accept the extremists’ attacks on civilians in Paris and elsewhere as the “new normal. ““The most powerful tool we have is to say we are not afraid,” Obama said as he wrapped up a nine-day trip to Turkey and Asia that was shadowed by terror attacks.

The president also pressed Russian President Vladimir Putin to align himself with the US-led coalition, noting that the Islamic State has been accused of bringing down a Russian passenger jet last month, killing 224 people.

“He needs to go after the people who killed Russian citizens,” he said of Putin.

The president spoke in Malaysia shortly before departing for Washington.

His trip also took him to the Philippines and Turkey, where he met with Putin on the sidelines of an international summit.

While Russia has stepped up its air campaign in Syria, Obama said Moscow has focused its attention on moderate rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad, a Russian ally.

He called on Russia to make a “strategic adjustment” and drop its support for Assad, insisting the violence in Syria cannot be stopped as long as Assad is in office. “It will not work to keep him in power,” Obama said. “We can’t stop the fighting.“