That effort requires Russian Federation as an interlocutor for the Assad regime.
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Turkey’s downing of a Russian fighter plane shouldn’t lead to further wartime escalation in the region, President Barack Obama insisted at a press conference Tuesday.
Turkey, like every country, has a right to defend its territory and its airspace. The incident also shows a need to move forward quickly on a diplomatic resolution to the conflict in Syria, he said. At stake are French regional elections in two weeks, and the presidential primaries next year, which are pushing Mr Hollande to demonstrate his influence and leadership in the fight against ISIS.
The United States president’s opponents have criticised him for not being more aggressive in speaking out about Isis, but he has refused to take actions because it might work “politically” or make him “look tough”. However, he said France will not intervene militarily on the ground. That being said, we have to defend ourselves and use intelligence. The French official pointed to a small stretch of the border that Turkey had still not closed north of Aleppo and which Islamic State was using to traffic goods and men.
In a meeting at the White House, Obama and Hollande agreed to “intensify” strikes against the IS in Iraq and Syria, while at the same time attacking jihadist funding and doing a better job of sharing intelligence.
The United States and France “share the determination to fight terrorism anywhere”, Hollande said, through a translator.
After the Paris attacks, French leader wanted to forge a broader and more co-ordinated coalition to focus on fighting Islamic State in Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin denounced the action as “a stab in the back carried out by the accomplices of terrorists”.
Both Obama and Hollande sought to put the onus on Russian Federation to join their coalition, and Obama cast Russian Federation as part of an isolated faction with Assad and Iran that would not succeed in its aims in Syria. He wants Russian Federation to commit to a political solution in Syria, but will work with all countries willing to find solutions to Syria’s civil war and militant groups active in the country. “And we must do it together”.
The USA has deployed more than 3,000 troops to Iraq to train and assist security forces there.
After the press conference, Vice President Joe Biden told reporters gathered in the East Room that he believed “Putin is coming to the realization that Assad should transition out”. He says this is an important moment for the US and France as well as the rest of the world.
Obama said the two countries will “deliver justice” to the perpetrators of the attacks and to “those who sent them”.
“France and the United States stand together in that joint response”.
The comments reflected the resentment in the White House at pressure to escalate the battle with the Islamic State, given that the United States has conducted two-thirds of the airstrikes against the group in Iraq and 95 percent of the strikes in Syria.
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LESTER HOLT: And the incident with that Russian jet managed to overshadow a crucial meeting at the White House today.
