President Donald Trump withdrew U.S. forces from Kurdish-held areas of Syria this week, leaving them open to a new Turkish offensive.
The U.S. had fought alongside the SDF against the Islamic State militant group. The Kurdish-led force cleared ISIS fighters from all of eastern Syria and has since continued mopping-up and anti-insurgency operations against the group."We have been for years warning about an extreme danger of the experiment that the Americans were conducting there, trying to set the Kurds and Arab tribes against each other in every possible way," he told reporters.
"We were warning against playing the Kurdish card, as this can come to no good, of which we were also warned by our colleagues from other countries in the region having large Kurdish communities," Lavrov added. Russian forces are fighting in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad. Ultimately, Moscow desires a reunited Syria under Assad's control, but the SDF is a barrier to that goal. Trump's withdrawal—if Americans do indeed leave Syria—will giveLavrov said Russia will be working toward"the beginning of a dialogue between Turkey and Syria" and"contacts between Damascus and Kurdish organizations that renounce extremism and terrorist methods of activity.
The foreign minister also suggested Russia would be able to play a mediating role between the Syrians and the Kurds, thanks to"its good relations with all parties." He added,"We'll see how to go about this business." Syrian Democratic Forces fighters pose for a photo with the American flag after a ceremony announcing the defeat of ISIS on March 23, 2019 in Baghouz, Syria.
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