Votel told CNN that the U.S. would not pull back its forces in Minbaj.

Earlier this month, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Ankara will not limit its precautionary measures against the YPG to Syria's Afrin district but could move to Manbij, also in Aleppo province.

Besides Turkey, the US also deployed troops to Syria in 2014 without obtaining a mandate from either the UN or Syria. Damascus has numerous times called on both countries to withdraw their troops from Syrian territory.

In his most recent call, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad dubbed such deployments "invasive," adding that Damascus would regard such actions as "occupation."

Reporter’s code: 50101