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Trump hails Syria ‘breakthrough,’ lifts sanctions on Turkey

President Donald Trump hailed an apparent Turkish decision to halt a military offensive in Syria as a major breakthrough and said now the United States was getting out.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers a statement on the conflict in Syria with Vice President Mike Pence at his side in the Diplomatic Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., October 23, 2019. REUTERS/Tom Brenner - RC1C5194D700

WASHINGTON — Proclaiming a “major breakthrough,” President Donald Trump said today that Turkey agreed to permanently suspend its military offensive in Syria. Trump said he would therefore lift sanctions imposed last week on three Turkish ministers and two ministries.

“This was an outcome created by us, the United States, and nobody else,” Trump, flanked by Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, said in remarks from the White House Diplomatic Reception Room, as if it was a top national security development. “This is something they've been trying to do for many, many decades.”

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