President Obama urged Russia and NATO allies Tuesday to "discourage any escalation" after a Russian warplane was downed along Turkey's border with Syria.
Russian President Vladmir Putin denounced the incident as a "stab in the back," and it could significantly hinder Western efforts to enlist Moscow in battling the Islamic State terrorist group and seeking a resolution to Syria's nearly five-year civil war.
After meeting with Hollande at the White House, Obama declared "total solidarity" with France, saying his planned trip to Paris next week for a climate change summit is a "powerful rebuke" to terrorism.
In a jab at U.S. politicians raising questions about accepting Syrian refugees, Obama praised France's decision to allow entry to tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing warfare and the Islamic State.