Nuri Mehmud, spokesman for Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), said that the US had earlier informed the public about its allocating budgetary funds for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to ensure stability in Syria and the fight against Daesh.
"I don't know about the exact amount [but in any case] the issue of allocating American funds for the SDF's needs was raised even before Turkey launched an attack on Afrin," Mehmud said.
He also noted that in Afrin, Kurdish forces do not use the arms supplied to them by the US.
He explained that the YPG use "the weapons bought on the black market from units of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) which in turn received it from Turkey in [the cities of ] Azaz, al-Bab, Idlib and Jarabulus."
"With these weapons we are defending ourselves from the attacks of Turkey and terrorist groups in Afrin," Mehmud said.
Asked whether the US's budget plan related to the Kurds contributes to the formation of an independent YPG state, Mehmud said that the SDF jointly with the US and the coalition act within the framework of an agreement aimed at achieving stability in Syria.
"Neither we nor the forces that work together with us are aimed at splitting Syria," he pointed out.
Earlier, he told Sputnik that the Kurdish forces "have no intention of attacking government forces" and that they are "fighting for the stability of Syria." According to him, the YPG currently controls 40 percent of the territory of Syria.
Damascus has condemned the operation as "treacherous aggression" and an assault on the country's sovereignty. Russia, for its part, urges all parties to show restraint and to respect Syria's territorial integrity.
Ankara had repeatedly threatened to launch an operation in northern Syria's Afrin region, following the US announcement of its decision to start training a border protection force comprising the US-backed SDF, affiliated with the YPG.
