Kurdish commander says Trump did not oppose deal between Russia, Syria

The commander of Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria said President Trump did not oppose an agreement between the Kurds and the Russian and Syrian governments in response to the Turkish invasion, according to The Associated Press.

Mazloum Abdi said Trump gave the go-ahead on the proposed deal in a Monday phone call, the AP noted.

{mosads}“We told [Trump] that we are contacting the Syrian regime and the Russians in order to protect our country and land,” Abdi told a local TV station, Ronahi TV, according to the news service. “He said, ‘We are not against that. We support that.’ ”

Abdi also said the Turkish offensive has taken priority for Kurdish forces and that they have frozen their anti-ISIS activities, even as members of the terrorist group have freed some ISIS prisoners. He told the channel Kurdish forces would make the final decision about how to handle the prisoners and their families.

“The matter is in our hands. We captured them. We are holding them, and we will decide what to do with them. No one else,” he told the channel, according to the AP.

The report comes as Vice President Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are set to arrive in Turkey Thursday as part of an American delegation seeking to persuade President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to accept a cease-fire.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Trump said Turkey’s incursion into northern Syria after he pulled U.S. troops out of the region “has nothing to do with us.”

“If Russia wants to get involved with Syria, that’s really up to them. They have a problem with Turkey. They have a problem at a border. It’s not our border, we shouldn’t be losing lives over it,” Trump said.