‘Not our fight’: Donald Trump says US should avoid military action in Syria
US President-elect Donald Trump said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should not receive US support to remain in power.
President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday remarked that the United States should refrain from military action in Syria, as an insurgent offensive has reached the suburbs of the capital, saying , “This is not our fight.”
His first extensive comments on the dramatic rebel offensive came while Trump was in Paris for the reopening of the Notre Dame cathedral.
He said that Syrian president Bashar al-Assad should not receive US support to remain in power. (Latest updates)
Assad, who is supported by Russia and Iran, faces a challenge from Syrian rebels. The Biden administration sees these rebels as having ties to terrorist groups.
The US has pointed out that the rebels' rapid advance toward Damascus shows how distracted Russia and Iran have become due to the war in Ukraine and other regional issues.
The Biden administration has said that it is not supporting the Syrian rebel offensive and has not indicated that US military intervention is imminent.
Read: India urges citizens to leave Syria amid escalating violence
Currently, about 900 US troops are stationed in northeastern Syria, working with Kurdish allies to prevent the return of the Islamic State.
However, both Syrian opposition activists and regional officials are closely monitoring the situation, watching for any signals from the Biden and incoming Trump administrations regarding how the US might respond to the growing rebel movement against Assad.
On Saturday, the United Nations' special envoy for Syria called for urgent talks in Geneva to facilitate an "orderly political transition" in the country.
In his post, Trump stated that Russia, preoccupied with the war in Ukraine, seemed “incapable of stopping this literal march through Syria,” a nation they have supported for years. He suggested that the rebels could potentially force Assad from power.
Trump also criticised the overall US handling of the 13-year Syrian conflict but voiced support for the routing of both Assad and Russian forces.
“Syria is a mess, but is not our friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!” Trump wrote in a post on X.
With AP inputs
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