Francois Hollande Says U.S., France to Step Up Strikes in Syria, Iraq

With Belgium still on lockdown as authorities hunt those who launched the horrific November 13 attack, Hollande said he and Obama had agreed to “scale up our strikes both in Syria and in Iraq” and “broaden their scope”.

Speaking during a press conference with French President Francois Hollande at the White House, Obama said the incident on the Turkish-Syrian border is part of an “ongoing problem” with Russia’s airstrikes in Syria that is more focused on propping on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The shootdown of the plane further illustrates the complex challenge before Obama, Hollande and other world leaders trying to destroy the Islamic State. He added that closing the border between Turkey and Syria to terrorists is “a matter of urgency”.

Police in France said they were analysing what is thought to be a suicide belt similar to those used in the Paris attacks, found without its detonator in a dustbin in the Montrouge suburb of the capital. Finally, he is scheduled to meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin on Thursday.

U.S. President Barack Obama and his French counterpart Francois Hollande on Tuesday urged Russia and Turkey to avoid escalation after a Russian warplane was downed by Turkey.

The French President, Burns said, may have in mind a bigger role for the United States than Obama cares to take on. Just as the French stood by the U.S.in times of turmoil, the US now stands beside Paris and the rest of the country as well.

“Hollande and Obama huddled behind closed doors in the Oval Office, and neither offered any preview of their meeting to reporters at the session’s start”.

Putin says his country is targeting the Islamic State militants, the U.S. contends Moscow is going after rebels fighting Assad, a Kremlin ally whom the USA wants pushed out. “That would be extremely damaging”. “It can not be tolerated, it must be destroyed”.

Also Hollande stated that France and Russian Federation will discuss intelligence sharing in Moscow because the two countries must better coordinate efforts against the Islamic State in Syria. Russian Federation counters that Assad’s leadership is key to regional stability and Moscow’s airstrikes were aimed at crippling ISIS fighters, not anti-Assad rebels.

No new major shifts in strategy were announced, but Obama said the USA would “step up” its coordination with France by providing it with additional intelligence and air support.

One of the main sticking points holding up Russia’s involvement in the 65-nation coalition against ISIS has been its longtime support for the Assad regime in Syria.

The White House asserts that Assad’s brutal response to anti-government protests plunged the country into civil war – a protracted bloodshed which has destabilized the region. It seems Secretary of State John Kerry has his orders. Russian Federation has agreed in principle to a new process that would lead to U.N.-supervised elections within 18 months but continues to oppose efforts to explicitly remove Assad.

“We can not imagine the Syrians getting together, gathering around the leader who is responsible for most of the 300,000 dead in a few years”, Hollande said. “We should not be under any illusions”.

Mr Hollande has been seeking worldwide support for his newly declared war on the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) after the Paris attacks.

Russia’s concerns about ISIL – which has thousands of Chechen members – overlap with the West’s, he added.

On a day when the Syrian conflict seems more chaotic than ever, Presidents Obama and Hollande opted for simplicity.