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.
Advertisement
The IS posed a “serious threat to all of us”, he declared.
“We can not imagine Syrians getting together, gathering around the leader who is responsible for most of 300,000 dead”, Hollande stated.
Beyond their discussions on military cooperation, Obama and Hollande were expected to discuss diplomatic efforts to achieve a political transition in Syria.
“We must destroy Daesh wherever it is, cut its financial resources, hunt down its leaders, dismantle its networks and reconquer the territory it controls”.
“We chose to scale up our strikes both in Syria and Iraq, to broaden their scope and to strengthen intelligence sharing”, Hollande said.
When taking questions, however, Mr Hollande said France “would not act militarily on the ground”.
He spoke to British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday, will speak to German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday and is due to visit Moscow on Thursday.
Obama dismissed Russian Federation and Iran, backers of Syrian President Bashar Assad, as a “coalition of two”, compared to the 65-nation bloc that’s focused on defeating the Islamic State.
Hollande said he would bring that message to Moscow.
“One woman from Pennsylvania wrote me to say, ‘Money is tight for us in my household…” Both men were uncertain about the role the country and President Vladimir Putin would play in the effort.
“This points to an ongoing problem with the Russian operations“, Obama said.
But Russia denies that it’s killed civilians, and slammed reports that it has targeted medical facilities.
Responding to a question, Obama said he does not have all the information yet.
“On the Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France, there are words we know so well: ‘Give me your exhausted, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free.’ That’s the spirit that makes us American”, Obama said.
However, Obama stressed that Turkey has the right to defend its territory and airspace.
Also on Tuesday, Russian media reported that Russian Navy’s Moskva missile cruiser, equipped with the Fort air defense system, a sea-based variant of the robust S-300 system, will be stationed off the coast of Syria’s Latakia province.
“We can not succumb to fear”, Obama said after he discussed with Hollande on counter-IS efforts, “Make no mistake, we will win, and groups like ISIL will lose”.
“We must prevent an escalation that would be extremely damaging”. The United States, western European countries, Turkey and several Arab states are among the members.
“This is an incident between the Russian and the Turkish governments”, said Steve Warren, a spokesman for the U.S-led military campaign against the IS. “But for now that is not enough to cleanse Syria of rebels and terrorists and to protect Russians from possible terrorist attacks”.
Advertisement
The attack was launched from a rebel-controlled area near the crash site of the Russian Su-24 aircraft downed by a Turkish fighter jet.
