Obama: U.S. ‘will not relent’ in Islamic State campaign

A U.S.-led coalition is also striking the Islamic State group in Syria, but is not co-ordinating its efforts with Assad or Russian Federation, beyond communicating with Moscow in order to prevent midair mishaps.

President Barack Obama said Sunday that the United States and its worldwide partners “will not relent” in the fight against the Islamic State group and that the world would not accept the extremists’ attacks on civilians in Paris and elsewhere as the “new normal”.

“It will be helpful if Russian Federation directs its focus on ISIL”, he said, using another name for ISIS, instead of targeting rebels opposed to embattled Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

Obama also said there was an “increasing awareness” by Russian President Vladimir Putin that IS is Moscow’s gravest threat in the Middle East. IS claimed responsibility for downing a Russian passenger jet in Egypt last month with 224 on board.

Fuel reserves a few 50 kilometres (31 miles) north of Deir Ezzor were also destroyed in the strikes, the defence ministry said.

Yet, even with the recent Russian criticism, it appears as though Mr. Obama is still focused on Assad’s ouster and not on unifying with Russia against ISIS. Obama said he had invited leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to the United States, insisting that good ties with Asian nations were “absolutely critical” to USA security. It said the strikes killed 381 IS fighters as well as 547 gunmen from other insurgent groups.

The worldwide community is mounting its most serious effort yet to end the nearly five-year-old Syrian war, rallying around a second round of talks in Vienna this week amid the emergence of a Russian proposal that calls for early elections. USA officials have said Russian Federation has started focusing a few airstrikes against IS. The violence has killed more than 250,000 people and displaced millions, leading to a migrant crisis in Europe and intense concerns in the US about Obama’s plan to take in thousands of Syrian refugees.

French President Francois Hollande is due to meet with Obama at the White House on Tuesday to discuss ways to bolster the global coalition fighting the Islamic State.

“And I think we’ll find out over the next several weeks whether or not we can bring about that change in perspective with the Russians”, the president added.

“He’s not a mastermind”, Mr Obama said.

“We can not respond from fear”, he said.

Mendvedev reportedly likened the growth of ISIS to the growth of al Qaeda, which resulted in the 9/11 bombings in NY in 2001.