President Donald Trump demands Russia to stop supporting Syrian regime’s “atrocities”. In a phone call to Turkish President, he showed US concern over violence in the Idlib region, the White House said Sunday.
While talking to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Trump “expressed concern over the violence in Idlib, Syria and… conveyed the United States’ desire to see an end to Russia’s support for the Assad regime’s atrocities.”
This statement comes at a time when Syrian forces regained territories in Sunday’s offensive against the last major rebel bastion in the northwest region of Idlib.
Trump may have directed this statement against Russian airstrikes that are helping Syrian President Basharul Asad.
Since December, Syrian army have sped up their assault in Idlib and areas of neighbouring Aleppo and Latakia provinces.
This is important! Let’s not forget in Syria Trump endangered our troops, betrayed Kurdish allies, gave up military bases to Russia & disrupted foreign policy after a phone call with Erdogan/Turkey:
— Respectful Dialogue (@timeindawater1) February 16, 2020
On Sunday, after clashes and air strikes, regime forces “were in control of all the villages and small towns around Aleppo for the first time since 2012,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Russian-backed offensive has triggered the largest wave of displacement in Syria’s civil war, with 800,000 people fleeing since December, the United Nations says.
In the Saturday phone call with Erdogan, Trump also “reiterated that continued foreign interference in Libya would only serve to worsen the situation.” Earlier this year, Trump warned Erdogan against military intervention.
Libya has been mired in chaos since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising killed longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi, with two rival administrations vying for power.
States including Russia, France, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt support strongman Khalifa Haftar, while the UN-recognised Government of National Accord is backed by Turkey and Qatar.