US President Barack Obama spoke via phone to the leaders of Sweden and Canada to discuss the Ebola and ISIL crises, the White House announced late Thursday.
In a call to Sweden's new Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, Obama offered his congratulations on the recent election "and thanked him for Sweden's generous contributions in response to the Ebola crisis." The country just announced an additional USD 13.89 million investment to fight Ebola both in Swedish hospitals and in West Africa, which brings Sweden's total contribution to some USD 33 million. Obama "encouraged Sweden to play a leading role in the international response and welcomed increased coordination between the United States and Sweden as we work together the control the epidemic," the White House said.
The two leaders "agreed on the urgency of the crisis in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, and the need for all members of the international community to do more and to act quickly to address it." As for their foreign policy priorities, they "reviewed shared concerns such as the threat posed by ISIL, and achieving a peaceful solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine, to include the need for an effective OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) monitoring mission and a return of Ukrainian control on the Russia/Ukraine border, and full implementation by Russia of the Minsk ceasefire and peace plan agreements," the White House affirmed.
On his call with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Obama thanked his government for "Canada's commitment to international efforts to combat Ebola," and "discussed the urgency of greater international action and ways the United States and Canada could collaborate further to halt the spread of the outbreak and growth of new cases in West Africa." On ISIL, Obama again thanked Harper "for Canada's contribution of advisors to help train Iraqi forces as well as plans to deploy fighter jets, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets to support coalition airstrikes in Iraq against ISIL," the White House said.
Obama also updated Harper "on recent developments and on the growing international coalition of some 60 nations committed to the effort against ISIL."