SULAIMANI (ESTA) — A high-level U.S. delegation traveled to northeast Syria this week to meet with senior Kurdish officials there, the state department said in a statement on Monday.
The delegation included Acting Assistant Secretary Joey Hood, Deputy Assistant Secretary Aimee Cutrona, Deputy Envoy for Syria David Brownstein, and White House National Security Council Director for Iraq and Syria Zehra Bell, the statement read.
It met with senior officials of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Syrian Democratic Council, ranking council members and tribal leaders from Raqqa, the U.S. state department said.
The U.S. acting assistant secretary stressed the U.S. commitment to cooperation and coordination in the Coalition against Islamic State (ISIS) militants and the delivery of stabilization assistance to liberated areas to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS.
Hood emphasized “the U.S. commitment to support all efforts toward a political resolution of the Syrian conflict,” the State Department stated.
He also reiterated the United States would continue to be a “leader in the Syrian humanitarian response while working with like-minded countries to ensure the reauthorization of cross-border assistance into Syria”.
The SDF, consisted of Kurdish and Arab fighters, has seized much of northern and eastern Syria from ISIS with U.S. backing.
The delegation also paid a visit to the Kurdistan Region on Sunday and met with President Nechirvan Barzani and Prime Minister Masrour Barzani in Erbil.
The two sides discussed the latest developments in Iraq and Syria during the meetings.
The delegation and the Kurdish prime minister agreed on the importance of continued dialogue between Kurdish political factions, a Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) statement read.
In its meeting with the Region’s president, the U.S. delegation and Barzani highlighted the ongoing talks among Kurdish groups in northeast Syria as important steps towards resolving their pending differences, Barzani’s office said in a statement.
