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		</div><p>President Donald Trump has said that US troops are “largely out” of a region of Syria where Turkish forces are attacking the Kurdish fighters who were America’s allies in fighting the so-called Islamic State group.</p>
<p>However, a US official familiar with planning for the withdrawal of the approximately 1,000 troops in north-eastern Syria said that while the soldiers are consolidating on to two main bases, they have not yet begun flying out of Syria in significant numbers.</p>
<p>Military equipment is being gathered and flown out, the official said.</p>
<p>Mr Trump downplayed the crisis that followed his decision to pull out of Syria, which critics say amounted to giving Turkey a green light to invade Syria’s north-east, where it has been attacking Kurdish fighters whom Turkey views as terrorists.</p>
<p><em>“It’s not between Turkey and the United States, like a lot of stupid people would like you to believe,”</em> Mr Trump said, adding that he is more than willing to let adversaries fight it out in that area of the Middle East.</p>
<p><em>“They’ve got a lot of sand over there,”</em> he said. <em>“So there’s a lot of sand that they can play with.”</em></p>
<p>As for the Kurds, whom Mr Trump has been criticised for abandoning, he said: <em>“Syria’s friendly with the Kurds. The Kurds are very well protected. Plus, they know how to fight. And, by the way, they’re no angels.”</em></p>
<p>In the meantime, he said: <em>“Our soldiers are not in harm’s way, as they shouldn’t be.”</em></p>
<p>He answered reporters’ questions as he met at the White House with Italian president Sergio Mattarella.</p>
<p>Turkey launched a military operation against Kurdish fighters allied with the United States after Mr Trump pulled troops from the region earlier this month.</p>
<p>His decision was strongly condemned in the US — including by usual Republican allies in Congress — and around the world as contributing to regional instability and the abandonment of an ally.</p>
<p>He noted that Syria was getting “some help with Russia and that’s fine”.</p>
<p><em>“If Russia wants to get involved with Syria, that’s really up to them,”</em> he said.</p>
<p><em>“It’s not our border. We shouldn’t be losing lives over it.”</em></p>
<p>Mr Trump imposed new sanctions on Turkey this week in an attempt to force President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to end his assault.</p>
<p>Mr Trump is also sending a delegation led by vice president Mike Pence to Turkey to meet with Mr Erdogan in an attempt to help negotiate a cease-fire.</p>
<p>Mr Trump said the US should not be involved in “endless wars” in the Middle East and “it’s time for us to come home”.</p>
<p>The president said that if Syria wants to fight over land that does not belong to the US, “that’s up to them and Turkey”.</p>
<p>Even as Mr Trump defended his removal of US troops from north-eastern Syria, he praised his decision to send more troops and military equipment to Saudi Arabia to help the kingdom defend against Iran.</p>
<p>Trump said the US is sending missiles and “great power” to the Saudis, and “they’re paying for that”.</p>
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