Trump's Syria policy dismays Europe as Turkey launches campaign

Michael Stephens, research fellow for Middle East studies at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think-tank in London, said: "It is fair to say that this decision has not gone down well in the UK or France, and I think we have been left in the lurch a bit and are having to play a reactive strategy to a president who doesn't have a strategy." "It is very difficult to know exactly what the US is aiming at here and what their strategic priorities are... So from a European perspective, it's a confusing time and difficult to come up with a response."