Trump says U.S. will leave Syria ‘very soon’

YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. US President Donald Trump made a surprise announcement during an infrastructure speechThursday in Ohio, saying the United Stateswould soon withdraw from Syria, Washington Post reports.

“By the way, we're knocking the hell out of ISIS,” Trump said. “We're coming out of Syria, like, very soon. Let the other people take care of it now. Very soon — very soon we're coming out.”

Earlier in December the Pentagon said it had about 2,000 troops deployed in Syria. That same month, Defense Secretary James Mattis told reporters that he expected the U.S. would start sending more diplomats and civilian personnel to the country as ISIS loses territory.

"What we will be doing is shifting from what I would call an offensive, shifting from an offensive terrain-seizing approach to a stabilizing ... you'll see more U.S. diplomats on the ground," Mattis told reporters.

But Trump’s statement contradicts earlier statements of the White House, which said “the US will be consistent in its presence in Syria”.

English –translator/editor: Stepan Kocharyan