French President Francois Hollande is trying to rally more worldwide support to destroy Islamic State following the November 13 attacks in Paris.
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Turkey’s attack on the plane comes as Putin is in the midst of a diplomatic campaign to cozy up to USA allies, especially France, in an apparent bid to create a so-called “grand coalition”. “We also think, as Francois said, that there may be new openness on the part of other coalition members to help resource and provide additional assistance, both to the coalition as a whole and to the local forces on the ground”, Obama said.
He added that immediate priorities for both sides in the coming weeks would be to free Raqqa, Islamic State’s Syrian stronghold, as well as targeting oil infrastructure controlled by the group.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the downed jet is a Russian one, refuting the news that the plane crossed the Syrianborder into Turkish skies.
The two leaders held the meeting to strengthen the coalition against the Islamic State in the wake of the horrific Paris terrorist attack by the dreaded terror group.
Putin used the opportunity of the joint news conference with Hollande to repeat his accusations against Turkey of turning a blind eye to oil smuggling by Islamic State.
However, in what could prove a stumbling block to cooperation between Moscow and the West, Putin and Hollande remained at odds on Thursday over the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. “We do not want to exclude anyone”. “Even as we are vigilant we can not and will not succumb to fear…” Among issues that have led to the scrapping of business and energy deals and a chill in ties have been Russia’s bombing of Turkmen rebels in Syria, who are openly supported by Turkey.
US President Barack Obama said Turkey had “a right to defend its territory and its airspace” but cautioned against any escalation, while North Atlantic Treaty Organisation chief Jens Stoltenberg also called for calm.
Said Mr Philippe Le Corre, a visiting fellow at the Centre on the United States and Europe at Brookings Institution: “On the diplomatic and military front, we expected that the U.S. would do a little more”. The group appears to now be focusing on targets outside its base in Syria and Iraq, including attacks in Lebanon and Turkey and the downing of a Russian airliner over Egypt. Given the rash of attacks, Obama is now facing increased pressure at home and overseas to ramp up USA efforts to destroy the militants.
In a speech to the French community during a visit to Washington, Hollande hailed the climate conference as “the most important event of recent years”.
“President Hollande and I agreed that the best way to bring peace to Syria is through the principles reaffirmed in Vienna, which require active Russian support for a cease fire and a political transition to a democratically elected government that can unite”.
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On Morning Edition, NPR’s Scott Horsley explained that Hollande is trying to bridge a tough divide: the United States and Russian Federation have a fundamentally different view of the civil war in Syria.
