President Trump is optimistic that the 5-day cease-fire in Syria will last: “This was a great thing for the Kurds, this was a great thing for Turkey, this is great for everybody.”
Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday that the United States and Turkey had agreed on a five-day Turkish cease-fire, days after the country's forces launched an offensive in northern Syria.
President Donald Trump, who was in Texas for a campaign rally, told reporters later Thursday that "this is an incredible outcome." The Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that the agreement was not a "cease-fire" shortly after Pence spoke. Turkey will continue to control the border zone, Cavusoglu said, according to state media.
He said that the United States had repeated assurances from the Kurdish fighters that they will leave the border zone, and that they "greatly welcome the opportunity for a cease-fire, to make a safe and orderly withdrawal from those areas in the safe zone where they still have a presence, and we are very confident that that's already taking place."
"I spoke to President Trump just a few moments ago. And I know the president is very grateful for President Erdogan's willingness to step forward, to enact this cease-fire, and to give an opportunity for a peaceful solution to this conflict that commenced one week ago," Pence said. Pence hailed the cease-fire as a "great contribution to security in this region, and a great contribution to the strong and enduring relationship between the United States of America and Turkey."
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