President Barack Obama will hold a video conference with the leaders of France, Italy, Germany and Britain on Friday, a day after stiffening US policy on Syria and ahead of the G8 summit next week.
The session is the latest in a series of consultations that Obama has held with the heads of US allies in the run-up to the summit in Northern Ireland on Monday and Tuesday, deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes said.
The conference will take place after the White House said it had concluded that Syria had crossed a US red line by using chemical weapons against rebels battling President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.
Officials said Washington would increase military support to rebels, which it is understood could also include the lethal assistance Washington has previously refused to provide.
Obama will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta at the G8 in person next week.
He will also make a visit to Germany.
Obama to hold video conference with European leaders
