Bolton: US goal of removing Iranian troops from Syria ‘far from easy to achieve’

US National Security Adviser John Bolton says the issue of Iranian military entrenchment in Syria was “a major subject of conversation” in his talks with his Russian counterpart.

Bolton hosts a press conference after meeting with Russia’s Nikolai Patrushev for five hours. The two failed to release a joint statement due to disagreements on the subject of election meddling, which was raised several times during the meeting, says Bolton.

Bolton records, on the whole, “considerable progress,” on issues raised last month in Helsinki in talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Well, this question of what to do with the Iranian forces… was something we discussed,” he says.

“Our objective is that all Iranian forces return to Iran,” he adds, saying this is a goal “I think President Putin would share.”

“It’s far from easy to achieve,” adds Bolton. Expanding on Trump and Putin’s discussion of the issue, the two national security advisers talked about a “series of steps” to advance this objective, he says, without elaborating.

Patrushev again raised the suggestion to place geographic limits on Iranian forces in exchange for the suspension of US oil sanctions, says Bolton, rejecting the proposal outright.

Iranian entrenchment in Syria was “a major subject of conversation,” he says, much as in Helsinki.

Bolton and Patrushev also discussed economic sanctions on Iran, with the former saying he explained Trump was seeking to “put maximum pressure on the regime.”

“Our objective is to have as few waivers as possible and that’s something we’re going to pursue,” Bolton says of the sanctions.

Russia did not request any waivers, he adds.