Kremlin calls Trump's letter to Erdogan 'unusual'
On Thursday, the Kremlin commented on US President Donald Trump's letter to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, calling its tone highly unusual for correspondence between Presidents. The American President asked his Turkish counterpart not to be a "tough guy" and "a fool."
On Wednesday, the White House published Trump's letter to Turkish President, which was sent on October 9. The American President urged his Turkish counterpart to stop the offensive in Northeastern Syria and recommended him not to be a "tough guy" and a "fool."
"Let's work out a good deal," reads Trump's letter. He added that because of the operation against the Syrian Kurds, Erdogan risks that history will look upon him as a "devil."
"Such language is not normally used in the correspondence between presidents. A very unusual letter," said Kremlin's Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov.
It is President Erdoğan reportedly threw the letter in the trash.
Relations between Washington and Moscow remain tense, but usually, the Kremlin refrains from commenting on Trump's actions, whom the Russian authorities consider “a positive force for bilateral relations, restrained by the anti-Russian establishment”.
The letter was published during Trump's attempts to take control of the negative political consequences after the decision to withdraw US troops from Northern Syria, allowing Turkish forces to attack the Kurds, who have been Washington's allies in the fight against the Islamic State militant group.
US Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and national security adviser Robert O'Brien met with Erdoğan in Ankara on Thursday. Pence called on the Turkish President to impose a ceasefire in Northeastern Syria.