France’s Hollande heads to Russia to press anti-IS coalition

Obama and Hollande showed their unity in the struggle against Islamic State Group (sis), calling for integrating Russian Federation with military efforts against the jihadists in Syria.

Obama said that there is a great cooperation potential between his Government and Russian authorities against ISIL, hence he urged Russia to join the large coalition.

The role of Assad, however, remained a deeply divisive issue following the talks in the Kremlin, as the Russian leader said the Syrian army is a “natural partner in the fight against terrorism” battling on the ground.

Earlier this week Hollande held talks in Washington with U.S. President Barack Obama on combating Islamic State.

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.

Estimates of ISIS militants range from 30,000 to 200,000 and the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS has recorded more than 10,000 ISIS deaths since the campaign began nine months ago, said U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken.

Turkey said it shot down the Russian Su-24 bomber after it flew into its airspace for 17 seconds despite repeated warnings. France’s ambassador to the U.S., Gerard Araud, tweeted Tuesday evening that “Hollande has confirmed the sanctions will be maintained as long as the Minsk agreements are not implemented”.

“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.

Also, both men had the same policy on ousting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but “President O-bummer” was much more discouraging than Hollande.

Putin also warned the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member against the possible ramifications of the action, saying, “We will never tolerate such crimes like the one committed today”.

“I thought what Hollande said was telling”, Biden told a handful of reporters after Obama’s meeting with the French president.

“We can not succumb to fear”, Obama said, standing alongside French President Francois Hollande after they met at the White House to discuss the anti-ISIS mission.

Publicly, though, Obama outlined no concrete new actions that the United States would take, and he suggested that the attacks might finally prompt Europe to approach the threat more seriously.

“‘For better or worse, right or wrong, [the US needs] Putin if there is going to be any resolution and any kind of political transition in Syria”, Miller said”.

Assad, Syria’s embattled president, could not be part of any long-term political solution for the country, he added.

The suspected ringleader of the deadly Paris attacks and an accomplice planned to carry out a suicide attack on the city’s La Defense business district the following week, the chief prosecutor said Tuesday.

The reconnaissance aircrafts will also support France in its fight against Islamist extremists.