U.S. defense secretary Chuck Hagel said on Thursday he discussed with France its possible involvement in the U.S.-led campaign in Syria but his French counterpart would not be drawn on whether Paris might join in airstrikes, reports Reuters.
France was the first country to join the U.S.-led coalition in airstrikes on Islamic State insurgents in Iraq, who have also taken control of large parts of neighboring Syria during the course of the three-year-old civil war there.
However, France has raised concerns that airstrikes in Syria could leave a void that Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's forces may fill and has called for a concerted effort to reinforce and train moderate anti-Assad rebels on the ground.
"Yes, we did discuss possibilities of France's involvement in Syria," Hagel told reporters at a Pentagon news conference following the talks, without elaborating.
French defense minister Jean-Yves Le Drian did not acknowledge discussions about French participation in Syria at the news conference.
After the news conference, he suggested to a smaller group of reporters that Hagel had made no request of France on Syria. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to Reuters no specific request was made during the closed-door discussions at the Pentagon.
Last week, French foreign minister Laurent Fabius said France's policy of not intervening in Syria could evolve over time but that there was no plans to do so for now.
Read more of this report from Reuters.