Russia: All Foreign Troops to Leave Syria Soon

By Staff, Agencies

Russia's special envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev predicted that “All foreign troops will soon withdraw from the Arab country and stop the looting of its natural resources.”

“We hope that the presence of a limited American contingency and of a number of Western states in northeastern Syria, as well as the Turkish contingency in the northwestern part of the country is temporary,” Lavrentiev said.

He further added: “Soon, as the situation stabilizes, all these military contingencies will withdraw from the country.”

Meanwhile, the Russian official stressed that the withdrawal of foreign forces from Syria would ensure its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and help end the plundering of the country’s natural resources.

“The looting of Syria’s resources is "absolutely unacceptable” as they “belong to the Syrian nation and …should be fairly distributed in the interest of all ethnic groups,” he said.

In parallel, Lavrentiev called on Washington-backed Syria militants to hold talks with the government, warning of similar situation like Afghanistan.

“I think that the withdrawal of US troops from Syria may take place at any time,” he stated.

The withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan signals the Kurds that the United States may arrive at a decision to leave Syria, too, he added.

“You must remember that former US president Donald Trump had decided to withdraw troops but his decision was later reconsidered and delayed.”

On Friday, US Acting Assistant Secretary for Near East Asian Affairs Joey Hood said American forces will continue to work with militants from the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces [SDF], an alliance of mainly Kurdish forces fighting against Damascus, to purportedly confront the Daesh [Arabic Acronym for the terrorist “ISIS” / “ISIL”] group.

“We will not leave northeastern Syria,” he said, claiming that Washington’s policy in Syria “does not aim to change the regime.”

“We aim to change the behavior of the Syrian government through a UN-led political process that protects the people,” he alleged.