Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Thursday that US troops would be key in a "re-energized" campaign against ISIS remnants in Syria, adding that the United States was not preparing to pull its forces from the war-torn country.
“We’re continuing the fight, and we’re going to expand it with more regional support,” he said.
"You'll see a re-energized effort against the middle Euphrates River Valley in the days ahead," Mattis added.
The Defense Secretary also confirmed to senior lawmakers in Washington that French forces had deployed in Syria two weeks ago.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday appeared to temper his position to withdraw troops from Syria soon by voicing a desire to leave a "strong and lasting footprint."
Currently, there are about 2,000 US troops in Syria, most of them commandos.
Meanwhile, there has been a race between a meeting of the five countries known as the “Small Group” in Paris and a tripartite meeting expected in Moscow on Saturday.
The Paris meeting brought together representatives from France, US, Britain, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, discussing a “unified vision” on Syria.
According to the French vision, it is important to “benefit from the new opportunity” that surfaced after the West sent a “strong message” to Moscow, calling on Russia to engage in a new political process in Syria, led by UN Envoy Staffan de Mistura.
For its part, Moscow said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would meet with his Turkish and Iranian counterparts in Moscow on Saturday to discuss Syria and Iran’s nuclear file.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: “Naturally, there will be an exchange of views on current regional and international issues.”
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