French President Francois Hollande that Tuesday failed to dispel the skepticism of his US counterpart, Barack Obama, regarding a possible coordination with Russia to combat the terrorist group calling itself the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (EIIL or ISIS), an the US leader target conditional on a prior "strategic shift" of Moscow.
At a meeting in the White House, Obama and Hollande decided to "intensify" their attacks on the ISIS in Iraq and Syria to "retake key territories in both countries", in addition to combating the financing of the jihadists and better share their intelligence, in the words of French President Efe he reported.
Need for change
The answer Hollande received Obama was no different from what the president has said in recent weeks: it will be "difficult" to cooperate while Russia does not change the target of their attacks in Syria, according to US are mainly directed against opposition groups leader Syrian Bashar Assad.
"President Hollande and I agree that Russia could play a more constructive role if it changed the focus of its strategy to defeat the ISIS" which is now "more focused on strengthening Assad," Obama said with Hollande.
Chirac said that France "intensify" its air strikes against ISIS, but ruled out going to intervene "militarily" with ground troops in Syria.
"We will intensify our aerial attacks. France will not intervene militarily on the ground," Hollande said after meeting with his American counterpart. "It is up to local forces do it," said the French president.
Words of peace
Obama stressed that the coalition to which they belong USA, France and other 63 countries have deployed "more than 8,000 attacks" ISIS, and that his government will "increase coordination" with France.
The president also wanted to reassure its citizens following threats issued by ISIS to attack US, stressing that the security forces and intelligence work "tirelessly" to prevent any attack. "Groups like ISIS can not win on the battlefield, so they try to terrorize at home against innocent people. Even if we remain vigilant, we can not succumb to fear," said Obama.