Germany rejected on Monday a demand by the United States to deploy ground troops to Syria to combat remaining ISIS militants in the war-torn country.
“When I say the government envisages sticking to the current measures in the anti-ISIS (military) coalition, this includes no ground troops, as is well known,” government spokesman Steffen Seibert told a regular news conference.
The US request comes after President Donald Trump has repeatedly urged Berlin to increase its defense spending, last month calling Germany "delinquent" over its contributions to NATO's budget.
Speaking from Berlin over the weekend, US special representative on Syria James Jeffrey told German media that Washington wanted ground troops from Germany “to partly replace our soldiers" in the area as part of the anti-ISIS coalition.
Last year, Trump declared victory against ISIS and ordered the withdrawal of all 2,000 American troops from Syria.
But a small number have remained in northeastern Syria, an area not controlled by the regime of Bashar Assad, and Washington is pushing for increased military support from other members of the international coalition against ISIS.
"We are looking for volunteers who want to take part here and among other coalition partners," Jeffrey said.
Washington has two goals in the region: to support the US-backed Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that expelled ISIS from northern Syria as they are increasingly threatened by Turkey, and to prevent a potential ISIS resurgence in the country.
The US is hoping Europe will help, pressuring Britain, France and Germany, which has so far deployed surveillance aircraft and other non-combat military support in Syria.
Syria's war has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since it started in 2011 with a brutal crackdown on anti-regime protests.
