Russia on Saturday accused the United States of "international banditry" after Washington announced its intention to protect Syria's oil fields which are controlled by Kurdish forces. The statement comes after US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said US troops were reinforcing their positions, including with mechanised forces, in Deir Ezzor, the country's largest oilfields, near the Iraqi border.

Their mission will be to prevent the Islamic State group from gaining access to oil fields and securing "resources that may allow them to strike within the region, to strike Europe, to strike the United States," Esper told reporters on a visit to Brussels. Some 200 US troops are currently stationed there.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019