US special forces in Syria
US forces have no more formal pretext and any ground to remain in Syria, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on December 15.
“It turns out that the Pentagon is deliberately deceiving the international and US public, including the supreme commander-in-chief, or there are no more grounds and even formal pretexts for the US troops’ presence in Syria,” Konashenkov said commenting the Pentagon’s statement that the US -led coalition will remain in the country until the full defeat of ISIS.
The spokesman recalled a declaration of victory over ISIS that US President Donald Trump made earlier this week and said that the Pentagon’s statement came in contrast to the statement made by the US president.
Konashenkov also added that a remark of Marine Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway that the Pentagon does not see any withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria shows “not only their [US] ill-concealed wishes that we [Russia] should not be there but also that the US does not have real information on what is happening on the ground.”
