Hollande, in Moscow, urges grand coalition against Islamic State

U.S. President Barack Obama and his French counterpart Francois Hollande pledged Tuesday to stand “united” on counterterrorism and increase efforts to “jointly” destroy the Islamic State (IS), also known as ISIL.

Washington and Paris have both stepped up their fight against IS in Syria, with France launching its first strikes from the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean on Monday and the U.S. calling for more worldwide cooperation against the jihadist group.

President Barack Obama received Mr Hollande with warmth, saying during a dual press conference after the meeting that Americans loved the French, even if they were normally too “shy” to say so.

The downing of a Russian jet by Turkey – a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally – on Tuesday, which was followed by Moscow’s renewed bombardment of U.S.-backed Syrian rebels, has also complicated efforts to build a grand coalition against ISIS.

But Hollande’s mission quickly became entangled with the fallout from a Russian military plane downed by Turkey – an incident with echoes of the Cold War.

President Obama should lead a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation coalition with military forces on the ground for the sake of humanity.

“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 global effort”, the former Florida governor said on CNN’s “New Day”.

“I do think that this points to an ongoing problem with the Russian operations in the sense that they are operating very close to a Turkish border”, Obama said.

Mr Obama said: “Russia’s strikes against the moderate opposition only bolster the Assad regime”.

“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. “Russian Federation right now is a coalition of two – Iran and Russian Federation supporting Assad”. “We will be able to confirm what happened in part through our own intelligence and our own tracking of that border area”, he said. “This is the unity of goal that brings us here today”, said the US President.

“While Russia sees Syrian President Bashar Assad as a bulwark against terrorism, Obama sees the Syrian president as a recruiting tool for the group”.

The French president will meet with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Paris in the morning, before heading to Moscow where he will hold talks with the Russian strongman. “This is proved by Putin’s statement that Moscow’s information given to Washington on the routes of Russian jets above Syria’s territory could be handed to Turkey”, Lukyanov told TASS. Hollande has addressed this question to the person who can have real pressure on Turkey – the USA president.