US dismisses reports on meeting Mamlouk

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert  on Wednesday (August 30) said reports in Al-Akhbar about such a meeting “do not reflect reality”. She said the State Department is “not aware” of any visit by US officials to Damascus to meet Mr Mamlouk.

On Tuesday, reports emerged that a four-hour meeting took place between US intelligence officials and the Syrian security chief. They also claimed the Assad regime rejected co-operation with Washington on security issues without the US first normalizing ties with Damascus, and that Mr Mamlouk also demanded the withdrawal of US forces.

The State Department has also shared concerns about "any kind of escalation" of violence in Idlib with the Russian government, according to Nauert.

"We have shared the concerns that we have about any potential offensive taking place, we have shared those concerns with the Russian government at many levels," she said Wednesday.

On Tuesday, US Defence Secretary James Mattis did not anticipate an imminent withdrawal of up to 2,000 troops from Syria.