"Trump still supports Syria's pathway to a peaceful country": White House

Washington DC [US], July 18 (ANI): White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that US President Donald Trump still supports Syria's pathway to become a prosperous nation.

In a weekly White House Press briefing on Thursday (local time), Leavitt said that after the US' intervention, the clashes are de-escalating in the region.

Trump met the interim president of Syria a couple of months ago, where he described him as a 'young, tough, attractive guy'.

"After the latest clashes in Syria over the last few days, Trump still supports Syria's pathway to a peaceful and prosperous country. And as soon as the United States became involved in this conflict, we were able to deescalate, deconflict. That seems to be continuing. Syria agreed to draw back their troops that were in the area where that clash was ongoing and we continue to be very actively monitoring the situation and the president wants to see Syria become a prosperous and stable country and by the lifting of the sanctions on Syria he's giving them a real chance to do that and he wants to see that through go ahead," Leavitt said.

Meanwhile, US Department of State Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in her Press Briefing, "Regarding Israel's intervention and activity ... the United States did not support recent Israeli strikes. We are engaging diplomatically with Israel and Syria at the highest levels, both to address the present crisis and reach a lasting agreement between the two sovereign states."

Bruce said that the US has worked to quickly stop the escalation.

"I won't speak to future conversations or past ones. What we're dealing with now is this particular episode, what was required, and I think we've been very clear about our displeasure, certainly that the President has, and we've worked very quickly to have it stopped," she said.

As per Al Jazeera, Israel carried out an air strike in the vicinity of Syria's Suwayda, Syrian state news agency SANA said on Thursday.

These strikes came despite a new ceasefire deal struck after four days of clashes between Druze armed groups, Bedouin tribes and government forces that have left hundreds dead. (ANI)

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