US Military Presence in Syria No Longer Makes Any Sense - Syrian Parliament Sec.
DAMASCUS (Sputnik) - The United States must withdraw its forces from Syria, since its military presence in the region no longer makes any sense amid the successes of the Syrian government's forces and its allies on the ground, Syrian parliament secretary Khaled Aboud told Sputnik on Saturday.
"The United States can no longer keep its forces in Syria since it gains no benefits from it," Aboud said.
According to the official, the US forces were deployed to Syria amid the expectations of the possible partition of the country.
"Now, however, we have left this page far behind, and there is no longer any need [for the United States] to keep these forces in the region," he clarified.
The lawmaker also commented on the upcoming summit between the two presidents, which is supposed to focus on the Syrian conflict settlement among other topical issues.
Aboud suggested that the Russian president would go to the summit with a solid record of achievements, those of his own and of his allies, while Trump would have nothing to put on the table.
On Friday, US media reported that President Donald Trump hopes to clinch a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin that will stipulate the US military withdrawal from Syria. Mahmoud Afandi, a representative of the Astana opposition platform, later told Sputnik that Moscow and Washington were preparing a deal to hand over Syria’s southern de-escalation zone and the US base in Al Tanf to Russian control, and the matter might be decided during the presidents' summit in Helsinki on July 16.
In April, Trump said he would love to remove US military forces from Syria, adding that he would leave the job of reconstruction to other countries. Shortly after, he, however, said that US troops would remain in the country until the United States could leave a "strong and lasting footprint" in the region.
The US-led coalition of more than 70 members is conducting military operations against the Daesh terrorist group in Syria. The coalition's activities in Syria are not authorized by the government of President Bashar Assad or the UN Security Council.
- Source : Sputnik News
