Turkey ignored U.S. sanctions and pressed on with its operation on northern Syria on Tuesday, while the Russia-backed Syrian army roared into one of the most hotly contested cities abandoned by U.S. forces in Donald Trump's retreat.
Reuters journalists accompanied Syrian government forces who entered the center of the city of Manbij, a flashpoint where U.S. troops had previously conducted joint patrols with Turkey.
Russian and Syrian flags were flying from a building on the city outskirts, and from a convoy of military vehicles.
U.S. forces announced they had pulled out of the city.
A week after reversing U.S. policy and moving troops out of the way to allow Turkey to launch an op against Washington's Syrian allies, Trump announced a package of sanctions to punish Ankara.
But the measures - mainly a hike in steel tariffs and a pause in trade talks - were less robust than financial markets had expected, and Trump's critics derided them as too feeble to have an impact.
The Turkish lira, which had fallen on the expectation of tougher U.S. measures, recovered after the sanctions were announced, as did its bond and stock markets, with traders noting that Trump had spared Turkish banks.
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