Obama Calls For European Unity, NATO Defense, Continued Sanctions On Russia

President Barack Obama announced Monday an additional 250 special operations forces will be sent to Syria in the coming weeks in a speech in Hannover, Germany, in an effort to stem the influence and spread of ISIS.

U.S. President Barack Obama says he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agree that Ukraine-related sanctions targeting Russian Federation should only be lifted if Moscow complies with a deal to end fighting between Kyiv's forces and Russia-backed separatists.

"I've made a decision to increase US support for local forces fighting ISIL in Syria", the president said today in a speech in Hanover, Germany, using an alternate acronym for the Islamic State.

"So, given the success, I have approved the deployment of up to 250 additional USA personnel in Syria, including special forces, to keep up this momentum".

This adds to the 50 personnel aiding fighters in Syria, bringing the total number of United States troops in the country to 300.

The increase of US troops in Syria has been discussed for weeks, including rumblings last week when Carter announced sending an additional 217 USA troops to Iraq, the first major increase in USA forces in Iraq in almost a year.

Merkel also used the occasion of Obama's visit to invite the leaders of France, Britain and Italy to Hannover for a meeting Monday to discuss Syria, Libya, IS, migration and other issues.

Obama was visiting Europe as a series of global threats cause major strains in the bonds between the continent's nations.

The migrant crisis was a central focus as Obama met with European leaders just before returning to Washington.

US President Barack Obama has said the United States needed a strong, united Europe to maintain worldwide order. "Even as European countries make contributions to ISIL, Europe and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation can still do more", he said, using a different acronym for ISIS.

But since then, Obama's star has dimmed, and the U.S. president has become frustrated with Europe's inability to move quickly in response to the global recession or to the threat from jihadists. "We need to do everything in our power to stop them". Obama says some of the additional troops he's sending will be special forces.

"As you see other markets like China beginning to develop and Asia beginning to develop and Africa growing fast, we have to make sure our businesses can compete", said Obama, before dining with prominent U.S. and German business leaders including the heads of pharma group Merck, industrial titan ThyssenKrupp and airline Lufthansa.

As well as arguing that Britain should remain in the European Union, he mounted a forceful defence of his host in Germany, chancellor Angela Merkel, who is facing criticism for her willingness to take in refugees from Syria.

"These are unsettling times and when the future is uncertain there seems to be an instinct in human nature to withdraw to the perceived comfort of our own tribe, our own sect, our own nationality: people who look like us, sound like us", he said. Obama said that "twisted thinking can lead to oppression, segregation, internment camps and to Srebrenica".

The president also made an impassioned plea for European unity in the face of rising populism and skepticism, warning this was a "defining moment" for the Continent.

Mr Obama's announcement of the deployment capped a six-day tour to the Middle East and Europe, and reflected a deepening of United States military engagement, despite the outgoing president's professed reluctance to dive further into another conflict in the Middle East.

Speaking in Germany, Mr Obama urged European allies to increase defence spending to address the so-called Islamic State group and other security threats.