Putin has asserted that he assumed there would not be any more similar incidents like the downing of the Russian jet by Turkey.
Advertisement
“You helped us win our independence, we helped the French to break free from fascism”, said Mr Obama, as usual forgetting to emphasize the crucial role played by the USSR in the liberation of the continent.
The attacks in the heart of Europe sparked fears of terrorism in the US, as well as an outpouring of solidarity with the French. The visceral Hollande said, “The only goal is to fight against terrorism” and the Islamic State.
Even though that France and the United States have been an ally for a very long time now, the relations between the two countries may never have been stronger because of the ISIS crisis. “What makes America America is that we offer that chance”.
Germany, for its part, faces parliamentary and constitutional constraints on striking ISIS militarily but is poised to boost its training support for the Kurdish Peshmerga in Iraq and will send forces to Mali to support a United Nations peacekeeping mission and to relieve pressure on France, which had been carrying much of the burden of anti-terrorist efforts there.
“We must destroy Daesh wherever it is, cut its financial resources, hunt down its leaders, dismantle its networks and reconquer the territory it controls”.
Fresh off of French President Francois Hollande’s visit to Moscow to try to assemble a “grand coalition” against ISIS, government spokesman Dmitry Peskov says that Russian Federation does not believe the US-led coalition is “ready” to merge into a single anti-ISIS coalition.
At the press conference, Obama also defended his controversial plan to admit thousands of Syrian refugees into the U.S. The president cited France’s plans to admit 30,000 refugees and suggested the United States stay on course to admit thousands as well.
Hollande said he and Putin agreed to “increase information and intelligence exchange, intensify airstrikes against Daesh, which will be subject to a coordination to increase their efficiency” and make sure that “the forces combatting Daesh and other terrorist groups must not be targeted by our actions”.
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.
“He has been the problem – he can not be the solution”, Hollande said.
At the start of talks in Moscow, Mr Hollande said an alliance of countries must join together to attack the group.
But Russia denies that it’s killed civilians, and slammed reports that it has targeted medical facilities.
Obama said Russian cooperation in the fight against the Islamic State would be “enormously helpful”. He added that Turkey had a “right to defend its territory and its airspace”.
In this photo made from the footage taken from Russian Defense Ministry official web site Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015. showing a Russian Su-24M during a Russian air raid in Syria.
Obama cautioned that information about the incident was still emerging and he discouraged escalation. “That would be extremely damaging”.
“We like the French” for their “mindset” their “culture” and “verve”, said Mr. Obama, at a joint press conference with Hollande.
Advertisement
Russian President Vladimir Putin called the Turkish actions akin to a “stab in the back” and called the Turkish government an “ally of terrorists”.
