“Rather, they focused their violence on the very spirit of France and, by extension, on all liberal democracies”, Obama said. Part of the objective of the trip was to urge Obama to work with Russian Federation to build a new coalition to fight the extremists.
Advertisement
The security measures include the patrols citywide of armed soldiers and police, something a counter-terrorism expert says has not seen in at least two decades.
Hollande said that France would continue to “intensify our strikes at the heart of the cities held by” ISIS, though would not intervene on the ground. In recent days, however, since Russia concluded that terrorists downed a Russian passenger jet last month over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Moscow has bombed Raqqa, the self-proclaimed Islamic State capital in northern Syria.
During the joint press conference, Obama reaffirmed the US’s alliance with France. Hollande’s visit to Washington is part of a diplomatic offensive to get the global community to bolster the campaign against the Islamic State militants.
Russian Federation is “undermining our effort to reach a political settlement, and they are doing that because they are concerned primarily with propping up the failed regime of Bashar al-Assad”, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Monday.
“Some of them seem to think that if I were just more bellicose in expressing what we’re doing that that would make a difference because that seems to be the only thing that they’re doing, is talking as if they’re tough”, Obama said.
Hollande said he wouldn’t set a deadline for Assad leaving office because “it must be as soon as possible”.
Another aspect of the anti-ISIS fight that Obama will likely underscore with Hollande is the influx of Syrian refugees who are seeking resettlement in both leaders’ nations.
In his first press conference after the attacks, in Antalya, Turkey, Obama argued testily that alternative plans from Republicans ignored realities on the ground, saying that his own interactions with wounded troops instilled a wariness toward war.
On Thursday, Hollande will meet with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
“Turkey, like every country, has the right to defend its territory and its airspace”, he said.
Illustrating the leaders’ message on tighter cooperation, France said its warplanes had hit an IS command center near its key western Iraqi stronghold of Mosul, in a strike led with the US Air Force.
Highlighting his solidarity with France, Obama traced the history of friendship between the two countries dating to the 18th century.
Obama said that it is going to be a hard, long, methodical process to bring back together various factions within Syria to maintain a Syrian state and institutions, and to create the kind of stability that allows people to start coming back in and rebuilding their lives.
In his meeting with Mr Obama, Mr Hollande was also expected to seek greater military commitment from the White House, and perhaps even an alliance with Moscow.
“We’ll deliver justice to these terrorists and those who sent them”, Obama said.
US forces were not involved in the air incident, according to an American military official, who was not authorized to discuss the incident publicly and so spoke on condition of anonymity.
Advertisement
“There have been times in our history, in moments of fear, when we have failed to uphold our highest ideals, and it has been to our lasting regret”, Obama said.
