“We have to let the Vienna process play itself out”, Obama said, referring to an agreement among 17 countries that lays out a timeline for a political transition in Syria.
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French President Francois Hollande and US President Barack Obama pledged their solidarity in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), declaring that they would step up strikes in Syria and Iraq, but neither committed to boots on the ground.
But after Isil claimed responsibility for killing 130 people in Paris, many who were reluctant to launch further military action in the Middle East now feel it is needed to protect against such attacks. “So a government of unity is required, but that must lead to Assad’s departure”, Hollande said, at the press conference. Mr Hollande added that the two countries have “decided to scale up our strikes in Syria and Iraq, to strengthen intelligence sharing regarding the targets”.
“There is a rule as regards committing special forces and that (is that) in general we don’t say it”, he said. Hollande said France came under attack for what it represents, for what it stands for, for its culture, it’s way of living, as well as its values and principles.
The State Department also stressed that it does not have a “clear understanding” of the events leading to the Russian plane’s downing.
But at the same time the relationship between Turkey and Russia plummeted to sub zero amid bitter recriminations over the downing of a a Russian warplane in Syria.
Obama and Hollande tried to focus instead on their joint efforts against the Islamic State, lauding more than 8,000 air strikes that they said have helped to reclaim some territory.
During a joint press conference with Hollande at the White House, Obama said that the United States and France “owe our freedom to each other”.
Putin also said Russian Federation would keep cooperating with the United States and its partners to fight Islamic State in Syria, but that cooperation will be in jeopardy if there are any repeats of the shooting down of the jet. “We can not give them the victory of changing how we go about our lives”. “But Obama is in a most complicated situation as it’s risky to Washington to depend on such an extravagant and reckless ally as Turkey”, Lukyanov said.
The United Nations Security Council passed a France-sponsored resolution last Friday, calling on the global community to “redouble and coordinate” programmes to suppress terrorist acts by “all necessary measures”.
Hollande will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday in Moscow as part of a series of talks to increase worldwide pressure on Islamic State after the Paris attacks.
Paris prosecutor Francois Molins meanwhile said the suspected ringleader of the deadly assaults in the French capital and an accomplice planned to carry out a suicide attack on the city’s La Defense business district the following week.
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“We reached the conclusion that we had to work with Putin”, said a senior French diplomat.
