In a phone call on Wednesday between the two world leaders, Russian president Vladimir Putin urged Turkish leader Recep Erdogan to exercise caution in Turkey’s planned offensive into northern Syria. A statement from the Kremlin revealed that both agreed upon “the importance of guaranteeing the unity and territorial integrity of Syria and respect for its sovereignty.”

Turkey is sending troops into a corridor in Syria along the border in order to establish a “safe zone” in which Turkey can begin resettling up to 2 million of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees currently within its borders. This area is controlled by the YPG, a leftist Kurdish militia, which has traditionally been used by the US as an ally to fight proxy wars. However, Turkey sees them as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which is also designated a terrorist group by the US. The YPG controls the second largest amount of Syrian territory, aside from Assad’s legitimate Syrian government. They make up the bulk of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a terrorist rebel group.

President Trump has already assented to the Turkish offensive, in a move which brought outrage from the DC political establishment. On Sunday, the president announced that American troops would be pulled away from the area. Since then, Trump has also publicly warned Erdogan to not do anything “off limits,” and emphasized that the Turks would be responsible for ensuring the captivity of ISIS prisoners currently held by the Kurds; but held firm to his decision to pursue an America First foreign policy.

While many in the Washington swamp from both sides of the aisle viciously attacked president Trump for what they termed a “catastrophic mistake,” senator Rand Paul defended the president, comparing his decision to Ronald Reagan’s pullout from Beirut, saying that “having a few hundred soldiers in the middle of a war is not necessarily a deterrent, but often a trip wire,” and that “President Trump is removing American troops from northern Syria to ensure that they are not put in harm’s way.”

Trump punched back against his deep state detractors by reiterating his commitment to a non-interventionist, America First foreign policy, stating that “the Kurds fought with us, but were paid massive amounts of money and equipment to do so. They have been fighting Turkey for decades. … I held off this fight for … almost 3 years, but it is time for us to get out of these ridiculous Endless Wars, many of them tribal, and bring our soldiers home.”

The US’ cooperation brings into alignment all the major players: America, Syria, Turkey, and Russia, allowing the peace process to continue as the rest of Syria continues to be liberated. Putin is following on Trump’s coattails as he urges Turkey to respect Syria’s territorial sovereignty during the offensive, and Erdogan’s assent bodes well for the prospect of finally bringing peace to a region long plagued by the disastrous consequences of globalist, deep state warmongering.