President-elect Donald Trump said on Saturday the U.S. should not be involved in the conflict in Syria, where rebel forces are threatening the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes U.S. President-elect Donald Trump as he arrives for a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Reuters/Sarah Meyssonnier
President-elect Donald Trump said on Saturday the U.S. should not be involved in the conflict in Syria, where rebel forces are threatening the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
"Syria is a mess, but is not our friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!," Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.
Trump said because Russia, an Assad ally, is tied up fighting a war with Ukraine it "seems incapable of stopping this literal march through Syria, a country they have protected for years."
If Russia were forced out of Syria, it "may actually be the best thing that can happen to them" because "there was never much of a benefit in Syria for Russia," Trump said.
(Reporting by Eric Beech; editing by Diane Craft)
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan dismissed demands by Syrian Kurdish groups for Syria to adopt a decentralised system of government, saying these were "nothing more than a dream" and had no place in the neighbouring country.
Israel said it carried out a strike in Syria against extremists who attacked members of the Druze community, following through on a promise to protect the minority group as sectarian violence spread near Damascus on Wednesday.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani met with senior U.S. State Department officials on Tuesday in New York, two sources familiar with the matter said, as Damascus seeks a clear road map from Washington on how to secure permanent sanctions relief.
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