Nevertheless, Trump's administration is reportedly not going to hand the territory liberated from the Daesh terrorist group (banned in many countries including Russia) over to Damascus. These areas will be policed by forces allied with the United States such as the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), while in areas controlled by Syrian government troops the ceasefire observation will be left to Russian forces.
On Thursday, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that despite a number of unresolved contradictions, Moscow and Washington have the potential for coordinating actions on Syria.
Later on Friday, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to meet for the first time on the sidelines of G20 summit in the German city of Hamburg. Syrian settlement is going to be one of the key points of their meeting's agenda.
The civil war in Syria between the government and various opposition and terror groups has been ongoing since 2011. Moscow has repeatedly insisted that the legitimate authorities cannot be ousted by force and this issue should be settled by Syrian people. Washington, on the other hand, preferred a hardline approach toward Damascus demanding Assad to step down and supporting opposition factions. Both Russia and the United States have been conducting airstrikes on Syrian territory, although actions of the US-led coalition were not authorized by the Syrian government.
