Pompeo said heading to Israel to discuss Turkey's Syria invasion

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will arrive in Israel on Thursday for talks with senior officials on Turkey's offensive against the Kurds in northeastern Syria, the Axios website reported.

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Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday played down the crisis in Syria touched off by Turkey's incursion against U.S.-allied Kurdish forces, saying the conflict was between Turkey and Syria and that it was "fine" for Russia to help Damascus.

Mike Pompeo and Benjamin Netanyahu meeting in Jerusalem ealier this year (Photo: AP)

Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House, said imposing U.S. sanctions on Turkey would be better than fighting in the region and that it was up to the countries there to work it out.

Kurdish-allied forces, backed by American troops, had been a strategic U.S. partner in the fight against Islamic State in northeastern Syria before Turkey launched an assault in the area following a phone call between Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Trump last week.

The Kurds are "not angels," Trump said.

Later Wednesday, Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence were scheduled to travel to Ankara to meet with Erdogan, who Trump has invited to the White House next month.

Turkish forces with militias outside the Kurdish town of Manbij (Photo: AFP)

Pompeo said earlier Wednesday that the goal was to seek a ceasefire.

Erdogan, speaking to reporters in the Turkish parliament earlier on Wednesday, said he was reevaluating his planned visit to Washington in November but may visit Russia.