So, with that, I’m going to take a few questions. We’ll start with Jerome Cartillier of *AP AFP. Where’s Jerome?

Q Good morning, sir, and thank you, Mr. President. For months now, you’ve been asking Mr. Putin to play basically a more constructive role in Syria, basically shifting from defending Assad to attacking ISIL. It appears your calls have not been heard. What’s your strategy going forward?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, I’m not sure that’s true. The fact that the Vienna process is moving forward, steadily — not conclusively, but steadily — I think is an indication that Mr. Putin recognizes there is not going to be a military resolution to the situation in Syria.

The Russians now have been there for several weeks, over a month, and I think fair-minded reporters who looked at the situation would say that the situation hasn’t changed significantly. In the interim, Russia has lost a commercial passenger jet. You’ve seen another jet shot down. There have been losses in terms of Russian personnel. And I think Mr. Putin understands that, with Afghanistan fresh in the memory, for him to simply get bogged down in a inconclusive and paralyzing civil conflict is not the outcome that he’s looking for.

Now, where we continue to have an ongoing difference is not on the need for a political settlement; it’s the issue of whether Mr. Assad can continue to serve as President while still bringing the civil war to an end. It’s been my estimation for five years now that that’s not possible. Regardless of how you feel about Mr. Assad — and I consider somebody who kills hundreds of thousands of his own people illegitimate — but regardless of the moral equation, as a practical matter, it is impossible for Mr. Assad to bring that country together and to bring all the parties into an inclusive government. It is possible, however, to preserve the Syrian state, to have an inclusive government in which the interests of the various groups inside of Syria are represented.

And so, as part of the Vienna process, you’re going to see the opposition groups — the moderate opposition groups that exist within Syria — some of which, frankly, we don’t have a lot in common with but do represent significant factions inside of Syria — they’ll be coming together in order for them to form at least a negotiating unit or process that can move Vienna forward.

And we’re going to just keep on working at this. And my hope and expectation is, is that political track will move at the same time as we continue to apply greater and greater pressure on ISIL.

And with the contributions that the French have made, the Germans have recently announced additional resources to the fight, the Brits have been steady partners in Iraq and I think are now very interested in how they can expand their efforts to help deal with ISIL inside of Syria — with not just the cohesion of the coalition the United States put together but also the increasing intensity of our actions in the air and progressively on the ground, I think it is possible over the next several months that we both see a shift in calculation in the Russians and a recognition that it’s time to bring the civil war in Syria to a close.

It’s not going to be easy. Too much blood has been shed, too much infrastructure has been destroyed, too many people have been displaced, for us to anticipate that it will be a smooth transition. And ISIL is going to continue to be a deadly organization — because of its social media, the resources that it has and the networks of experienced fighters that it possesses — is going to continue to be a serious threat for some time to come. But I’m confident that we are on the winning side of this and that, ultimately, Russia is going to recognize the threat that ISIL poses to its country, to its people, is the most significant, and that they need to align themselves with those of us who are fighting ISIL.

The Russian leader is reportedly mounting an enormous military mission to take control of the terror group's stronghold of Raqqa.

The city is the self-declared capital of ISIS in Syria and is patrolled by as many as 5,000 jihadi members.

Putin is set to mobilise 150,000 reservists who he conscripted into the military in September.

Yesterday, following the Paris attacks, Putin hinted he was ready to join forces with the West to tackle Islamic State.

He told David Cameron: "The recent tragic events in France show that we should join efforts in preventing terror."

An insider revealed: "It is very clear that Russia wants to sweep up the west of the country, taking Raqqa and all the oil and gas resources around Palmyra.

"This is fast becoming a race to Raqqa – to secure the oil fields they need to cleanse the region of insurgents, and the IS capital is vital to do that."

In a show of strength, Russian jets have previously obliterated nine ISIS outposts in just 24 hours using bunker-busting bombs.