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US may act in Syria through allies after troop pullout, says Russian senator

Konstantin Kosachev said that Donald Trump was facing two domestic challenges:one concerns US 'need to mind "own business" while another urges "not to give Syria away to Assad and the "bad" Russia"

MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. After pulling out its troops from Syria, the US may continue to act in the region through its allies, including "unofficial and questionable ones", Chairman of the Russian Federation Council's (upper house of parliament) Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev stated, commenting on US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out the US forces from Syria.

On his page in Facebook, the senator wrote that US’ statements concerning the pullout of troops from Syria "are an inevitable step after previous claims about the defeat" of the Islamic State terrorist group (outlawed in Russia). "According to logic, if the enemy is defeated, then who will the US fight against? Or they would have to confirm that [they are fighting against] the legal Syrian government, which was supposed implicitly since the very beginning?" Kosachev wrote.

Read also

US starts pulling forces out of Syria

The Russian senator added that Trump was facing "two domestic challenges in the US", one of which "demands the US to mind its own business more and stop warring for the interests of others," while another urges the US "not to give Syria away to [Bashar] al-Assad and the "bad" Russia, as this may be seen as a defeat of the US."

"This is why the decision may be double-sided - to pull out the Americans, but to keep acting through allies, including unofficial and questionable ones. I do not rule out that they will actually perform this showy gesture with the pullout of US troops. But whether this will change anything in Syria’s political and military situation - that’s the big question," the senator concluded.

Earlier, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders announced that the US started to pull out its troops from Syria. US President Donald Trump stated on Twitter that the United States have defeated ISIS (IS, the Islamic State terrorist group, outlawed in Russia - TASS) in Syria, which is the only reason for the US troops being there.

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