UPDATE - Trump Says Had 'Productive Call' With Erdogan On US Troop Pullout From Syria, Trade

MOSCOW/ANKARA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th December, 2018) US President Donald Trump said that he held a "long and productive" telephone talks with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday, during which they discussed "expanded" bilateral trade and the planned pullout of US troops from Syria.

On Wednesday, the White House announced that the United States began withdrawing its forces from Syria, but stressed that it did not mean the end of the US-led international coalition's fight against the Islamic State (IS, ISIS banned in Russia) terror group.

"I just had a long and productive call with President @RT_Erdogan of Turkey. We discussed ISIS, our mutual involvement in Syria, & the slow & highly coordinated pullout of U.S. troops from the area. After many years they are coming home. We also discussed heavily expanded Trade," Trump tweeted.

Erdogan, in turn, said that they had agreed to maintain closer coordination on Syria.

"Today, we had a very productive telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump, during which we agreed to expand our coordination in various areas � from bilateral trade to the situation in Syria.

I hope that these talks will benefit our country and the entire region," Erdogan tweeted.

Meanwhile, a source in Erdogan's administration told reporters that during the telephone talks, Erdogan had expressed satisfaction with Washington's decision on Syria and voiced readiness to offer any support to the United States as it withdrew troops from the Arab republic.

The US announcement about the withdrawal from Syria followed Trump's remark, in which he declared the IS defeat and added that this fight was the only reason for US military presence in the Arab republic during his administration. Trump added on Saturday that "local countries," including Turkey, should be able to easily deal with remaining members of the IS in Syria after the US pullout.

Earlier in December, Erdogan announced that the Turkish army was ready to start an offensive on the Euphrates east bank against the Kurdish forces at the earliest opportunity. However, on Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that a military advance against Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria would be delayed until the US forces' pullout from the country was over.