Paris: French President Francois Hollande will hold talks on Thursday with Russian leader Vladimir Putin as part of his diplomatic marathon to forge a broad coalition against Daesh terrorists in the wake of the Paris attacks.
The French president met Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Paris early Thursday and will later head to Moscow.
Hollande has been on a whirlwind tour seeking to build a coalition to crush Daesh in Iraq and Syria but has won few concrete pledges so far, and his campaign has been further complicated by a spat between Russia and Turkey over a downed jet.
Renzi offered only vague support for “a coalition of greater and greater strength that is up to the task of... the destruction of Daesh”.
France invoked a clause requiring EU member states to provide military assistance after the November 13 attacks in Paris, when 130 people lost their lives in a wave of killings by suicide bombers and gunmen claimed by Daesh.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday pledged to stand beside France after talks with Hollande, saying she would act “swiftly” to see how her country can help in the fight against terrorism.
The French and German leaders each laid a pink rose among the tributes of flowers and candles in Place de la Republique, the Paris square that has become a rallying point since the bloodshed.
In Berlin, Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said Germany would send 650 soldiers to Mali to provide some relief to French forces fighting terrorists there.
Meanwhile in Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron will set out the case for his country to extend its air strikes against Daesh from Iraq into Syria ahead of a vote by MPs next week.
On Thursday, he argued his case to MPs for Britain to join air strikes in Syria. “If we won’t act now, when our friend and ally France has been struck in this way, then our friends and allies can be forgiven for asking: If not now, when?”
Cameron argued there was a legal basis for intervention for self-defence because of the threat posed by Daesh terrorists at home, and said Britain should not “sub-contract” its security to allies.
“We have to deny a safe haven for [Daesh] in Syria. The longer [Daesh] is allowed to grow in Syria, the greater the threat it will pose,” he said.
Cameron called for “patience and persistence” and outlined a seven-point strategy for Syria, including diplomatic and humanitarian efforts and planning for what will happen if President Bashar Al Assad falls.
Cameron is expected to call a vote in parliament.
He met Hollande on Monday and offered France the use of a British air base in Cyprus for flying missions against the terrorists.
While Cameron said he “firmly supported” the French leader, Hollande got a cooler response from US President Barack Obama, who is reluctant to intensify military action without a clear strategy or political track in place.
Moscow has intensified its strikes in Syria after Daesh claimed it brought down a Russian passenger plane over Egypt last month, killing all 224 people on board.
