Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, commenting on the statement of Deputy Chief of Staff of the US Armed Forces, General John Hyten, suggested that the states “clean up their small footprints” in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and Syria
Hyten said earlier that the US, seeing how events in Afghanistan and Iraq are unfolding, “should not ignore the threats in the Middle East, but deal with them differently, leaving a small footprint so that our ‘body’ is more oriented to threats from China and Russia.”
“How about, before orienting the body towards threats, cleaning up its ‘small footprint’ in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Syria?” – the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman wrote in her Telegram channel.
The Associated Press earlier reported, citing a senior US presidential administration official, Joe Biden, that Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kazemi will announce on Monday an agreement to end the US combat mission in Iraq by the end of 2021.