Astana Trio agree that U.S. must leave Syria

Russia, Turkey and Iran have agreed that US forces must be withdrawn from the Syrian territory, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Tuesday after talks with his Astana Trio counterparts on Syrian settlement.

"The sides agreed that <…> US forces must leave the area near the Euphrates," he said, "The countries [of the Astana format] will continue to provide humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people," he added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin separately noted "the destructive policy of US-led Western states" that encourage separatism in certain Syria’s regions and "plunder its natural resources in order to ultimately end up dismembering the Syrian state."