"[US] Acting Secretary of Defense [Patrick] Shanahan and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General [Joseph] Dunford will be hosting their Turkish counterparts in Washington this week for further talks," the release said on Thursday.

US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a phone call on Thursday discussed establishing a safe zone in Syria.

"President Trump spoke with President Erdogan of Turkey today," the White House's press release said. "On Syria, the two Presidents agreed to continue coordinating on the creation of a potential safe zone."

In January, Erdogan said Trump had proposed in a phone conversation creating a 30-kilometre buffer zone in Syria. According to Erdogan, the future security zone will be controlled by the Turkish military.

Reporter’s code: 50101