Russia not reason for U.S. ending CIA arms to Syria rebels - general

A U.S. decision to halt a CIA programme equipping and training certain rebel groups fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was not done as a concession to Assad ally Russia, a top U.S. general said on Friday.

"At least from what I know about that programme and the decision to end it, (it was) absolutely not a sop to the Russians," U.S. Army General Raymond Thomas, head of the Special Operations Command, told the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado.

Earlier this week a U.S. official said the decision was part of an effort by the Trump administration to improve relations with Russia.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)