Obama on fight against Islamic State

“This underscores the importance of us making sure that we move this political track forward”, Obama said, while Hollande said “the only objective is to fight against terrorism” and the Islamic State.

“A strategy would be how do we mobilize support for the remnants of the Syrian Free Army, and it might require combat troops to inspire an worldwide effort”, the former Florida governor said on CNN’s “New Day”.

Otte said that “the IS can only be defeated militarily, therefore no idea must be ruled out as we engage in the fight against Islamist terrorism”.

French President Francois Hollande is trying to rally more worldwide support to destroy Islamic State following the November 13 attacks in Paris.

President Hollande said he will reaffirm that point when he meets with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Thursday.

Hollande reiterated that Assad, a key Moscow ally, “has no place in the future of Syria”.

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.

Speaking following talks at the White House between French President Francois Hollande and Barack Obama on Tuesday, the United States president said it would be “enormously helpful” if Russian Federation would work with the USA and others to bring about an end to the war in Syria.

Hollande and Merkel said they hoped tensions would calm between Russia and Turkey – two potential components of the anti-IS alliance – which fell out over the downing of a Russian warplane at the Turkish-Syrian border.

Hollande said to avoid such incidents from happening again, it is necessary for all countries fighting against terrorists in Syria to strengthen coordination of military forces deployed in the region.

Mr Obama said: “Russia’s strikes against the moderate opposition only bolster the Assad regime… And we are going to exchange some information about that: what can be struck, and what must not be struck”.

“I’m in Moscow with you to see how we can act together and coordinate so that we can strike this terrorist group, but also reach a solution for peace”.

Separately, a US-led coalition that includes France had already been staging air strikes against IS targets in Syria for over a year.

Obama and Hollande were both asked if they could set a deadline for Assad’s exit.

Several have turned to Twitter to mock Obama, wondering whether the president actually knows that both word are synonyms referring to one terrorist group – Islamic State.