President Barack Obama is working on strategies to fight Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and to continue to dissuade Russia from military involvement in Ukraine, he said Thursday from the White House.

Obama said he has directed Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to prepare a range of options to counter ISIL and has instructed Secretary of State John Kerry to travel to the region to build a coalition in opposition to the group. Though there have been reports suggesting that broader military action in the region is imminent, the president said he will take his time.

“I don’t want to put the cart before the horse. We don’t have a strategy yet,” Obama said from the White House press briefing room.

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