French President Francois Hollande, speaking alongside his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama, said Tuesday that the two allies had resolved their differences over American digital eavesdropping.

Leaders from many U.S. allies, including Germany's Chancellor Angel Merkel, were angered by intelligence leaker Edward Snowden's revelation that the United States monitors their telephone calls.

President Barack Obama said Tuesday that foreign firms testing commercial prospects in Iran did so at their own peril and vowed to come down like a "ton of bricks" on sanctions violators.

Obama spoke alongside French President Francois Hollande a week after a large French business delegation traveled to Tehran to test opportunities that could be opened by the easing of Western sanctions.

French President Francois Hollande said Tuesday he discussed the situation in Lebanon with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama during a visit to Washington, stressing the importance of preventing the country from “descending into civil war.”

“France has historic ties with Lebanon and we're supporting it as large numbers of refugees flee to it” from neighboring Syria, Hollande said at a joint press conference with Obama.

U.S. President Barack Obama said Tuesday he will travel to France in June to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings of allied forces in Nazi-occupied Europe.

Obama said he had accepted an invitation to make the visit from French President Francois Hollande, after the two men met at the White House.

U.S. President Barack Obama warned Tuesday that Russia would be to blame for keeping aid from desperate Syrian civilians if it blocked a U.N. resolution designed to lift the siege of Homs.

Obama also heaped pressure on the Kremlin as U.S. concern grows about the pace of Syrian compliance with a deal to hand over its chemical weapons stocks for destruction.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday praised France as a model ally in a world that must do more to meet common threats, laying on the full flourish of a state visit for President Francois Hollande.

Obama hailed France, an increasingly key partner in the fight against Islamic extremism in Africa, nuclear proliferation and climate change, as he welcomed Hollande on the White House lawn.

French President Francois Hollande arrived in Washington on Monday for a state visit and talks with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama at a time of intense collaboration between the long-standing allies.

The build-up to the trip was marked by speculation over Hollande's private life, as his relationship with his former first lady collapsed, but the weightier topics will be on the agenda when the pair meet.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Washington on March 2 where he is to discuss Iran and the peace process with U.S. President Barack Obama, his office said Monday.

The visit will take place as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry seeks to forge a framework agreement which will keep Israeli and Palestinian negotiators at the table beyond a looming April deadline, despite little outward sign of any progress to date.

Negotiators are close to striking a long-awaited deal on compensation for Turkish victims of a deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza aid flotilla four years ago, a Turkish official said Monday.

The May 2010 Israeli assault on the Turkish ship the Mavi Marmara while it was in international waters sent relations between Israel and Turkey to an all-time low.

The presidents of France and the United States issued a joint call Monday for other nations to join them in seeking an "ambitious" agreement to curb climate change.

Presidents Barack Obama and Francois Hollande, writing in an article in the Washington Post and Le Monde, called for support "in pursuit of an ambitious and inclusive global agreement" to reduce greenhouse gas emissions "through concrete actions" at a climate conference in Paris in 2015.