Erdogan: We are not worried about any sanctions

Turkish President dismissed the US calls for a ceasefire in northern Syria and said that he's not worried about American-imposed sanctions

Iran pressAsia: Speaking to journalists traveling on his presidential plane following a visit to Azerbaijan Tuesday, Erdogan said a ceasefire was off the table.

Erdogan told reporters on board the presidential plane Tuesday that his government is "not worried" about any US sanctions.

"They are pressuring us to stop the operation (in northern Syria). They are announcing sanctions. Our goal is clear. We are not worried about any sanctions," he said.

"Declare a ceasefire, they say. We will never declare a ceasefire. We do not sit at the table with terrorist organizations," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

Erdogan's comments come as Syrian troops on Tuesday gained control of the town of Manbij and surrounding areas, until recently an active US military outpost, CNN reported.

Russia has stepped up its role in the Syrian conflict by deploying military police to the country's north -- filling a vacuum left by the withdrawal of US troops from the area.

Russian units are patrolling a contact line between Syrian and Turkish forces, according to a statement by Russia's Defense Ministry.

On Tuesday, Russia's presidential envoy on Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, told state news agency TASS that Moscow "won't allow" clashes between Turkish and Syrian forces on the ground.

The Trump administration claimed on Tuesday, it was dispatching Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser Robert O'Brien as part of a delegation departing to Ankara Wednesday, to broker a deal to stop the Turkish military operation in Syria.

Recently, US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticized Trump's to withdraw US troops from Syria, saying: "President Trump gave Turkey the green light to attack our Kurdish partners, betraying the thousands of fighters who gave their lives to keep the world safe from the barbarism of ISIS."

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