Obama, Hollande pledge solidarity against ISIS

He is to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Paris on Sunday.

In a meeting at the White House, Obama and Hollande agreed to “intensify” strikes against the IS in Iraq and Syria, while at the same time attacking jihadist funding and doing a better job of sharing intelligence.

Mr Hollande’s meeting with Mr Obama follows the attacks in Paris that killed 130 people at the national sports stadium, a concert venue and bars and restaurants in heart of the French capital.

He has said greater cooperation between the United States and Russian Federation is required in battling ISIS, though persistent USA skepticism about Putin’s intentions in Syria have until now prevented any significant military coordination between the two countries. “That is obvious. They were carrying out an operation fighting against ISIL in Northern Latakia”.

The US president pushed back against critics who have questioned White House plans to expedite and expand plans to resettle thousands of migrants fleeing the Syrian civil war.

Presidents Barack Obama and Francois Hollande closed ranks in demanding Syrian President Bashar Assad’s ouster, rebuffing Russia’s attempt to use the fight against Islamic State to keep its ally in power.

Obama said Turkey “has the right to defend its territory and its airspace”, adding Russia’s targeting of moderate opposition groups does nothing to quell the spread of the IS.

Nonetheless, Hollande said that he wished to “gather all countries” to carry out the fight.

“We need a joint response, an implacable joint response”, Hollande said.

“The Paris attacks generated a lot of emotion, but that’s not enough, compassion, solidarity – and I take note of it”, Hollande said, “but we must act”.

Mr Obama left much of the detail around the intensification to Mr Hollande, offering limited additional American military intervention in line with his belief that the fight against Isis is working.

“Turkey, like every country, has a right to defend its territory and its airspace”, Obama said.

“This barbaric terrorist group, Isil or Daesh, and its murderous ideology, poses a serious threat to all of us”.

ISIL terrorists, who were initially trained by the Central Intelligence Agency in Jordan in 2012 to destabilize the Syrian government, have claimed responsibility for the deadly attacks in France.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner told a daily press briefing on Tuesday that the U.S. is in discussions with both Russian Federation and Turkey, trying to figure out what exactly happened, with a clear emphasis on de-escalating the situation.

The White House has been standing firm, saying the U.S.is already carrying most of the weight: conducting two-thirds of airstrikes against targets in Iraq, 95% in Syria.

Earnest said if “Russia is prepared to commit the kinds of resources that the United States has in a way that’s integrated with the worldwide community to defeating ISIL, we’d welcome that contribution”, but he expressed deep skepticism over whether that would actually happen.