Ankara should be mindful of the risks in making strategic concessions to Moscow in order to achieve its tactical objectives in Syria, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wess Mitchell said during House Foreign Affairs Committee
hearing.

He noted that Turkey has recently expanded its cooperation with Russia and Iran.

"Ankara has sought to assure us that it sees this cooperation as a necessary stepping-stone towards progress in the Geneva process and as a means of de-escalating the conflict. But the ease with which Turkey brokered arrangements with the Russian military to facilitate the launch of its Operation Olive Branch in Afrin District – arrangements to which America was not privy – is gravely concerning. Ankara should be mindful of the risks in making strategic concessions to Moscow in order to achieve its tactical objectives in Syria. Ankara claims to have agreed to purchase the Russian S-400 missile system, which could potentially lead to sanctions under section 231 of CAATSA and adversely impact Turkey’s participation in the F-35 program,"  Mitchell said.

According to him, it is in the American national interest to see Turkey remain strategically andpolitically aligned with the West, and it is also in Turkey’s interests.

"In the context of Syria, we have engaged in high-level interagency discussions, both to address legitimate Turkish security concerns and to avoid inadvertent collisions between our forces. These conversations are ongoing. Moving forward, our aim is to enlist Turkey as a more active ally in supporting the Geneva process, the defeat of ISIS and lasting stabilization in Syria, as well as a long-term factor in thwarting expansion by Russia and Iran, as outlined in the National Security and National Defense Strategies," Mitchell noted.