Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power on Monday suggested that President Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from northern Syria was a way to “compensate Vladimir Putin for his election interference.”
{mosads}“Every day @realDonaldTrump finds new ways to compensate Vladimir Putin for his election interference,” Power tweeted, linking to a CBS News article about Russian troops taking command of a U.S. airbase in northern Syria.
“And every day Putin gains additional incentive to interfere again on Trump’s behalf in 2020,” she added.
Power, who served as U.N. ambassador under former President Obama, is a frequent critic of Trump’s foreign policy, saying in October that the president gave his blessing to ethnic cleansing when he told reporters that Turkish forces “had to have [Northern Syria] cleaned out.”
Power, who has suggested she may run for Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) seat should Warren win the presidency, is one of numerous bipartisan voices who have condemned the Syria pullout, which was followed by Turkey’s incursion into the region.
Following a deal that forced the withdrawal of Kurdish forces in the region and ended the Turkish military offensive there, Russia and Turkey began joint military patrols in northeastern Syria, with the starting patrol covering a 54-mile area assisted by drones. The Russian defense ministry said nine military vehicles including a Russian armored personnel carrier were used.