Trump doubts public wants US involved
BEIRUT — As Turkey’s military incursion into Syria continues, President Donald Trump is telling reporters the US has only two choices: Hit Ankara hard with financial sanctions or send in US troops to stop the fighting between Turkish and Kurdish forces.
Mr Trump says Turkey knows he does not support the invasion. But he also says he doesn’t think the American people want to send troops there. He is telling reporters, “I hope we can mediate.”
Earlier Mr Trump tweeted a third option: “Mediate a deal between Turkey and the Kurds!”
The president has been roundly criticised by Democrats and Republicans for moving US troops back from northern Syria so they would not get harmed during the planned incursion against the Kurds, whom Turkey’s government see as terrorists.
A divided UN Security Council has failed to agree on a statement following a closed meeting on Turkey’s incursion into northeast Syria.
The five European council members who called on Thursday’s meeting — there are 15 member countries — urged Turkey in a joint statement afterward “to cease the unilateral military action”. They say it threatens progress against the extremist Islamic State group by a global coalition.
The Europeans warned that “renewed armed hostilities in the northeast will further undermine the stability of the whole region, exacerbate civilian suffering and provoke further displacements.”
Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, whose country is a key Syrian ally, told reporters that any council statement on Syria must address broader issues, including the presence of foreign forces in the country.
US Ambassador Kelly Craft told reporters that President Donald Trump “has made abundantly clear” that the United States “has not in any way” endorsed Turkey’s decision to mount a military incursion in northeast Syria.