A US soldier rides a military vehicle
© Rodi Said / ReutersA US soldier rides a military vehicle in the town of Darbasiya, Syria, April 28, 2017
Contrary to Donald Trump's promise to withdraw, the Americans "are actively settling down" on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River in Syria and have no plans to leave, the Russian Foreign Minister has said.

Speaking in Beijing on Tuesday, Sergey Lavrov said "a number of countries have explicitly chosen to disintegrate Syria."According to Russia's top diplomat, the US, in particular, pledged that their only aim was to "drive terrorists out of Syria and defeat the so-called Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS)."

Despite this promise and contrary to President Donald Trump's statements, "the US are actively settling down on the eastern bank of Euphrates River and have no plans to leave," said Lavrov. The Americans are setting up local authorities in the areas they control, he added.

"By the way, it is the French president [Emmanuel Macron] who encourages them [to stay]," the Foreign Minister said. "He recently said the US should not withdraw from Afghanistan [and added that] the American coalition has to remain in Syria until they create the order there that favors the Western countries," he stated.