US President Joe Biden’s National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, emphasized on Saturday that the United States has no intention of intervening militarily in Syria’s civil war, reported The Associated Press.
“The United States is not going to … militarily dive into the middle of a Syrian civil war,” Sullivan said during a speech in California.
However, he affirmed that the US would continue taking necessary actions to prevent the Islamic State (ISIS) from capitalizing on the instability created by ongoing fighting in Syria.
“The first, critically is, do not let this allow for the resurgence of ISIS, and we are going to take steps to make sure that that happens,” Sullivan said. “Second, we do have a profound interest in shoring up the security of our partners in the region, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, others – we’ll do that. And third, we will attend to the humanitarian situation because we believe that we have an obligation to do that.”
Sullivan highlighted the swift advances made by Syrian rebels as evidence of the diminished strength of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s key allies, who have been strained by other conflicts.
“Assad’s backers — Iran, Russia and Hezbollah — have all been weakened and distracted,” Sullivan said, according to AP.
“None of them are prepared to provide the kind of support to Assad that they provided in the past,” he added.
Earlier on Saturday, US President-elect Donald Trump stated that he does not intend to intervene in the Syrian civil war.
"Syria is a mess, but is not our friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
"Russia seems incapable of stopping this literal march through Syria, a country they have protected for years. If Russia were forced out of Syria, it may actually be the best thing that can happen to them, because there was never much of a benefit in Syria for Russia," Trump added.
Meanwhile, the Syrian rebels’ offensive continued on Saturday night, when the commander of the Syrian jihadist rebel organization "Hayat Tahrir al-Sham", Abu Mohammad al-Julani, announced that his forces have "completely liberated" the city of Homs, the third largest city in Syria, from the Assad regime.
He called on his fighters not to harm soldiers from the Syrian army who are laying down their weapons.