Russia’s Putin agrees with Trump that Islamic State defeated in Syria

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he largely agreed with US President Donald Trump that Islamic State had been defeated, but added that he was sceptical whether the United States would withdraw fully from Syria.

Trump said on Wednesday that the United States had defeated the radical Islamist militant group in Syria, and that this fulfilled the only goal for keeping US troops in the country.

Putin said Moscow had not noted any signs of a US withdrawal, and that the United States had many times said it was leaving Afghanistan, but still retained a presence there.

It is pertinent to note here that US President Donald Trump said Wednesday it was time for US troops to come home from Syria, after years of battling the Islamic State group in the war-wracked country.

“We won,” Trump said in a video message posted on Twitter, declaring the IS jihadists defeated. “We’ve beaten them and we’ve beaten them badly. We’ve taken back the land.”

“So our boys, our young women, our men — they’re all coming back and they’re coming back now,” Trump said.

His message came at the end of a day of relative surprise in Washington at the news that the 2,000 US troops on the ground in Syria would be withdrawn.

A US official said Trump’s decision was finalized on Tuesday.

In his video message, the Republican president — facing criticism on both sides of the political aisle — insisted the time was right.

“They’re getting ready. You’re going to see them soon. These are great American heroes,” Trump said.

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